


Hide and Seek

by KhronoKameleon



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Serial Killers, Character Death, Gen, M/M, Murder Mystery
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-07-23
Updated: 2013-10-27
Packaged: 2017-12-21 01:52:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,980
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/894400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KhronoKameleon/pseuds/KhronoKameleon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren is a serial killer who's obsessed with the sight of blood and dragging the two friends in debt to him into his murders. Nothing special, really, just your typical murders with Mikasa and Armin disposing the bodies, hiding evidence and sending the cops off their trails. That is, until Eren gets bored and starts setting the murders up. Making a game out of it. Enter special agents Levi and Irvin, the FBI's best for the job. It's a game of hide and seek against the killer, who's under their nose the entire time. A battle of wits to the end in a game of hide and seek. - Warnings: Graphic violence, death, blood and gore. Main pairing: Eren/Levi</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Let the Game Begin

**Author's Note:**

> AN: Just for warnings - Graphic violence, death, blood and gore from the get go. M for that and probably Eren/Levi later on. 
> 
> My friend and I sat down and discussed this entire AU: plot, characters, everything. We're willing to write and finish this if you guys want! Tell us what you think so far, please. I have no idea how this'll be taken for an AU so yeah. Let's try this.
> 
> Thank you for reading!

**.o0o.**

_Shinganshina Outskirts_

_Apartment Complex C_

_21:00, October 14th, 2013_

_Eren Jaeger_

_\---_

It wasn't too hard anymore to bring something down on another person. Be it hammer, knife, maybe even a rusty pipe; they all cultivated the same outcome. A lifeless body that had previously been screaming in pain and pleading for help and their life, and blood.

Red, magnificent and opaque; it was something he loved. The texture, the look, everything about it. It was like a reward, he believed, once you break away the shell protecting it . You're left with crimson that's never the same color for everyone. That's what he found fascinating; that a person could be horrible, so god damn filthy, and yet their blood would still have its own hue. Always crimson, but with different shades mixed in once the light hit it. Lighter reds for some, darker and heavier reds for others. It was different and unique and he loved it.

Which is why he did  _this._

Eren dropped the pipe. It rolled to a stop by the chair where the motionless form sat. Head hung and silent, it sat. No one worth mentioning, Eren noted, just a thief who was stupid enough to waltz into his apartment thinking he could steal something. Just a thief who was stupid enough to waltz into his death.

There was a subtle drip that landed in a metal pan next to him where that lovely hue was splashing against silver, signaling the last event of the evening was still going on. Draining blood wasn't exactly the nicest thing to do in the world, but it left room for creativity. Leaving it at the wrong crime scene, using it to tamper with evidence...perhaps he could even paint a picture with it and sell it. That'd be a fun way to mix it up.

"Eren?"

He snapped out of his daze and looked to the doorway. The light that shined in from the kitchen blocked out the face, but he could tell by the shoulders and the posture. Mikasa fiddled with the ends of her scarf, the way she always did when he was like this. Her eyes were probably focused on the wall too, away from the tarps and her bloodied brother crouched in a dark room.

"Did you finish?" he asked. He already knew the answer.

Her figure nodded. "Everything's done. It didn't take too long."

"Armin?"

"Called it in. He'll be there creating alibis and leading them off the path."

Eren hummed in reply. He patted the head of the slouched body and used it to haul himself up. His feet crunched against the tarp that covered the extra room's floor, creating the only sound between the three as he walked towards Mikasa.

He could finally see her eyes. Grey, slightly narrowed, unafraid.

"Who was it this time?" she asked. Timid, stable, just as always.

"Just some idiot who decided to attempt a break in," Eren mused. He gave the body one last look. It looked almost peaceful, aside from the river that ran from its veins and out into the air to show off what happened. It wasn't anything unusual around the apartment, though.

"Did he now?" she returned. Doubt, it was there, Eren could tell. He ruffled her hair with his unstained hand and stepped past her to walk to the kitchen. The faucet seemed too loud in the dark, but that was okay. It was calming coupled with the red that filtered off his hands and mixed with the water to swirl around the drain.

"I promise, he did."

She snorted in disbelief. "Why does that surprise me?"

"Because usually it's not the truth," he laughed. "But mixing it up every now and again isn't a bad idea, right?"

She sighed. "Eren, what if they find out?"

_That's not going to happen, he thought, they're too slow. They don't know what they're doing._  His phone buzzed on the counter.

"Do you really think they will?" He replied. Dodge the question, easy as always.

Mikasa frowned. "It's a possibility. Eren, I just," she paused, probably to choose her words carefully. "worry. I don't want to lose you, especially to something like this."

"The killings? Or the cops?"

"Both." Her answer was firm. "You should find another hobby."

He sighed in return and tapped the screen on his phone. Armin's name stood out on the text notification. Under it was a simple message:  _Done. On my way back._

And that was that, just as always. That would be the end to another life and to another story. It was normal and oh so  _boring_ , Eren believed.

A cop car's lights flashed outside of the kitchen window. The car went speeding past towards Armin's location, and where Mikasa had returned from.

It was boring, and normal.

He wanted change.

"Mikasa?"

"Hmm?" She clicked the kitchen light on. A paper towel was in her hand, and she ran it under the water. As soon as she deemed it damp enough, she took Eren's chin in her hand and started wiping off the blood that had made it onto his cheek.

He  _needed_  change.

He grabbed her wrist to stop her. "I think it's time we mix things up again and find a new hobby,"

He needed to see what the world was capable of.

 

**.o0o.**

_Trost Outskirts_

_Military Training Base_

_7:00, October 15th, 2013_

_Special Agent Levi_

_\---_

It was too damn early for paperwork. Nothing pissed him off more than having a stack of files slammed down on his desk as soon as he stepped through the office doors, and nothing pissed him off more than having  _another_  stack given to him for this job. A little car reading, he'd been told, that's all it would be. Something to pass the time while he and Irvin traveled a few cities over.

Car reading his  _ **ass**_. 15 fucking files and not even a decent cup of coffee on a shitty car ride made it practically unbearable. No, Special Agent Levi Rivaille couldn't honestly give a _fuck_  at this point.

But his work partner did. And that's why he was here; sitting in the car, drinking some convenience store's watered down pathetic excuse for caffeine, reading murder files. Which honestly would have seemed interesting, and probably even worthwhile, if it wasn't seven in the morning on a fucking  _saturday_.

He marked his spot with his thumb to take another drink, scrunching his nose in disgust. The murder cases weren't anything new. Either stabbed to death (usually in the torso almost ritualistically, nothing entirely unique there as always), beat to death, dismembered, disemboweled; the list went on. Nothing was interesting or even eye-catching anymore after working for the FBI for so long. Which is why Levi didn't understand  _why_  Irvin had chosen to pick this case up. It didn't have anything new and it wasn't even in their league. Hell, a fuckin' rookie cop could probably figure out the killer-

There was a sharp tap on his window. Levi looked up to see Irvin's face. His mouth was set in a grim line and he jerked his head in a quick nod back towards the crime scene. Levi raised a brow in retaliation.

_You need to see this._  Irvin mouthed. Levi sighed and threw the case files in the back seat. He threw the car door open with more force than necessary, grabbing his crap coffee too.

"This better be good."

"Oh? A little fresh air seems like it could do _you_  some good."

"Har har," He bit back and downed the last bit of coffee. The grinds included. He wanted to puke. "So what's so special about this one?"

"I think you should take a look yourself,"

Levi frowned. They reached the police tape that created a barrier around the training base's opening. The body was in plain view from there, shoved up between two telephone poles in the center. Rope was suspending the wrists so that the hands looked like they were holding the body upright in a sitting position. A few feds were crouched around it, looking and pointing. Same with a couple of white coats, except they were sweeping the dirt around it.

Irvin was the first to nod to the two feds when they looked up. "Agent Ral, Bossard,"

Special agents Petra Ral and Auruo Bossard were another pair only called in for top priority murders. Serial murders, if Levi remembered right. His eyes narrowed. This was important if they were here.

"Special agent Smith," Petra offered a smile. She stood and wiped her hand on her pant leg before offering it. He shook it quickly. When she offered it to Levi, however, he just glared at it and stepped in to look at the body.

"I'll apologize on behalf of him. He's not entirely a morning person," Irvin's voice. Levi wanted to turn around and snarl at how condescending that sounded, but he forced himself not to. No, it was time for him to go to work and see  _exactly_  why this was so damn important.

He barely heard Irvin usher the other two out of there. His full attention was on the body in front of him. Middle aged, American, Male. Probably around 150 pounds and nearly six feet tall. He didn't seem entirely special; there was a significant amount of bruises centering around the man's collarbone and that drifted down the man's shoulder.

Irvin tapped him on the shoulder. There was a pair of rubber gloves. "I expect you to report your analysis to me quickly,"

"What about you?"

"I took a look while you were reading through the case files,"

The shorter of the two scoffed. Of course he did.

He went back to work, pulling on the gloves. With them on he could pull down the shirt and see the fractured shoulder that wasn't bleeding, even though it should have been. He could also see the damaged ribs when he pulled up the shirt. There weren't any marks that actually broke  _through_  the skin though, that was the weird part. Tack the possibility that this guy could be a professional killer to the list.

He looked at one hand and then the other. Nothing wrong there. A leather bracelet was on the victim's left wrist just above the rope, but there were no signs of a struggle. In fact, he realized, there was no signs of a struggle  _anywhere_. It was like the ground had never been touched. There weren't any footprints of the killer or the victim.  _Which means that the killer probably murdered this man away from the scene and brought him here_ , Levi frowned. But that wouldn't make any sense either. With a dirt road all the way in and out, there'd have to have been some sort of tracks heading in. But there weren't.

He pushed that thought aside; that'd be something to talk to Irvin about. Instead, he examined the rope. Normal grade, standard, just something you could buy at a home improvement store. It looked like the rope was embedded into the wrist by at least a quarter of an inch, most likely because of a clamp. There was slight bruising around the skin there which was expected. But that was all.

He tilted the head up next. The man's face was untouched. There weren't any bruises on the neck or purplish-red dots under the eyes that would have signaled Petechial hemorrhaging. Asphyxiation in Layman's terms. There wasn't anything. The eyes weren't bloodshot, the skin wasn't damaged in any way. Even the hair seemed like it had been brushed, as short as it was.

This was bizarre.

But the face seemed _familiar_...

"Agent Smith," he shouted.

Footsteps running back to his side. They crouched down by Levi's side and aimed at the rope that wrapped around one of the telephone poles. "I take it you found something?"

"No signs of a struggle aside of the bruises on his torso, no source of any fluid leakage. Nothing in the mouth that looks like it could have been poison. There's no hemorrhaging at all. It's too clean,"

"The ground hasn't been swept. We managed to find the trainee in charge of that job; he said he didn't notice anyone come and go, but the security tape is gone." Irvin replied. He was untying the rope, making the victim fall back as soon as it came free. "Prints on the machine and door were wiped clean. There's nothing."

_Typical_ , he frowned. He tilted the head up again, trying to place where he'd  _seen this_ _ **face**_ _before-_

And then it hit him.

"Michael Grimes. Age 34, right? Originally from Hermiha, he moved out and to Trost. Don't blame him. Hermiha is a fuckin' dump."

"So you noticed it too, huh."

"He's a famous thief, isn't he? From trafficking to normal house raids. His name's been everywhere lately, it's no surprise the asshole landed himself dead. Good riddance."

Irvin ran a hand across his chin. He turned the man's wrist over and over in his hand, double checking Levi's work. The bracelet moved under his finger. Irvin removed it quickly and turned it over in his hand.

"Tell Petra to check and see if Michael had a wife named 'Mira'."

"He didn't. I read his file on the way over."

"Are you sure?" Irvin deadpanned. He handed Levi the leather bracelet. Sure enough a message was scrawled on the bottom in silver:  ** _'With love and hope, Mira'._**  Irvin slipped it into a clear bag. "Have her look for anyone named Mira with ties to our victim in general. If not, then anyone named Mira."

Levi nodded. He ran a finger through the dirt below them, let his eyes wander over the entire crime scene.  _Why here?_

"Bossard, you're standing there doing nothing," he spat. "Soil samples. I want them taken. Six different ones from all around the scene."

The agent gave a gruff nod in response. "I'll get someone to deal with the crowd before that. Seems like someone called the news crew."

_Fucking perfect._

"We have a group of civilians too. People who live around here, came to see the commotion and why a bunch of FBI agents were walking their street looking at cars." Auruo continued. He took the plastic bag from Irvin and stuck it in his vest pocket.

_You have to be fucking_ _**kidding** _ _me._

"Well get someone to pull their head out of their ass and get on that. Don't let them get near here, last thing we need is this fucking horror story to be tampered with. Irvin-" Levi snapped his head back to look at his partner. "is there a time of death on this freak?"

"Hanji was only able to take a rough estimate before the lab called-"

"How long ago?"

He was pushing Irvin's patience. He could tell by the sigh. "Around sixty minutes. The victim is clothed, it's still cool and windy here, and he's not in direct sunlight... sometime early. Maybe around five? Six even?"

_That's less than an hour before we showed up. Even less time for them to place everything and get out before the morning patrol started making their rounds. Why? Why did the murderer wait until then? Why didn't anyone here notice the fact that they were broken into? Unless..._

_Unless someone from here, perhaps?_

There were people shouting back behind the police tape. News crew and people who lived up on the hill right before this place. Demanding, some even yelling in horror at how the police could let something like this happen, and if there was a killer on the loose. What did that mean for their children, what they should do-

"Irvin?"

"Agent?"

"Have the boys package the body up and send it back to the lab. We're looking over something, everything was too clean to be just another simple death. Someone planned this and someone wanted it found. It seems like this is going to turn into a wild goose chase from the way it's looking so far."

"I'm glad we're on the same thought train," came the chuckle as a response.

"It's why we're partners, isn't it? We're the only ones who can actually use our brains to think logically it seems," He sneered. He peeled the gloves off of his hands and stared back at the crowd that had formed. Mostly parents, he noted. There were a couple of teenagers in the back, too nervous to get close. One of them met Levi's eyes, though. Bright green, intense green; framed by brunette bangs.

_That kid..._

"Smith, have Bossard take pictures of everyone who's come through that gate,"

"Agent?"

"Get their names and addresses if you have to. I want specs on every person who was here from last night to this morning, military trainee or civilian I don't give a shit," he paused. Looked back at the body then at Irvin. "I have a bad feeling about this."

 

**.o0o.**

_Trost Outskirts_

_Military Training Base_

_7:30, October 2013_

_Eren Jaeger_

_\---_

Mikasa and Armin stood by his side. Watching, waiting, while the feds found the body and looked it over. They wouldn't find anything helpful, he mused, they'd be wasting their time. They'd be puzzled and stumped at why a famous thief would end up at a military base. Why the body was pristine aside from the shoulder and ribs and strung up.

_Why_ , he smirked and leaned on Mikasa's shoulder, _the body doesn't have blood when everything else isn't tampered with._

"They're going to take your picture," she spoke quietly. Eren nodded dully and sighed.

"I know."

"You shouldn't be here," Armin was next. Eren nodded again. Armin was the one to place the anonymous phone call. He was the one to make sure everything went according to plan. Mikasa was the dear to set up the extra 'gift'.

"I'll be fine. We haven't even gotten to the best part yet," Eren mused. No, there was an event he was waiting for. When all the cops found it and rushed to it, he'd make his leave then. He wanted them to see the gift, the opening to this game. He wanted to watch their faces, and see if this was worth dangling himself on a string in front of them.

It was then he met the eyes of the officer that had been inspecting the body. Even in this distance he could see the cold grey, calculating and probably even analyzing Eren while he stood there. The way the guy held himself even now, was just condescending on the crowd and everyone there.

He said something to the officer standing next to him. Whatever his response was caused the shorter one to glare out at them, at Eren.

"They've called in new agents," Armin mumbled. His voice quivered, he was nervous. Scared. Eren frowned.

"They must know something's wrong, huh."

"Eren, this isn't going to end well-"

"Armin, it'll be fine." He continued to stare at the officer. Waiting... waiting.

And there it was. A woman ran from back behind the supply shed there, breathing heavy and practically screaming. Eren didn't bother to pay attention to what she was yelling about; he already knew. He also knew that it would have the crowd in front of him start to panic and start to head back towards the entry gate and towards the safety of their homes yet again.

The officer went wide eyed. Cold grey eyes even at this distance swept over the crowd. He was back to yelling at the other officers, most likely to detain the crowd and keep them there. Pictures. They would take pictures now.

"Eren-"

"Let's go before it gets too hectic," he sighed. Armin breathed in relief. Mikasa grabbed his hand and tugged him towards the entry gate, back out, and towards the car.

"What do you think will happen?" She questioned. Her voice remained calm and flat, even as she started the car. Eren took shotgun, and Armin moved into the backseat.

"I think a wild goose chase is about to start between us and the new agents. I think a game sounds fun."

_And it'll be fun_ , he closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the seat as Mikasa edged the car out and onto the road.  _It'll be a nice change of pace. Who knows, the new guys could be smart. They might even be able to get close to me._

Yes, a wild goose chase sounded like fun. Maybe even something akin to hide-and-seek.

Either way, it was time to start preparing. He'd have to be careful, but that wasn't an issue. He'd been doing this for too long; killing, leaving the bodies places. But never like this.

No, this would be fun.

A game of hide-and-seek was just what the nation needed.


	2. Tu es lui, mon ami.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Warnings - Graphic violence, death, blood and gore from the get go. M for that and potentially Eren/Levi later on.  
> I'm surprised at all the reviews this got! Everyone's comments made me want to write this really fast, but life got in the way so this is later than I wanted aaahh
> 
> But nonetheless thank you! Each comment made my day, and I'm glad you're all enjoying this so far. My friend and I did decide that we'll probably head down the Levi/Eren path, but nothing too romantic and over the top. Just hints at it because we don't want to derail the story just for them. We want the story to play out like it's meant to.
> 
> Anyways thank you all so much again and I hope you like this chapter as well! Let us know what you think ~

 

**.o0o.**

_Trost Outskirts_

_Military Training Base_

_7:54, October 2013_

_Special Agent Levi_

_..._

 

Petra was the one to run back to them after ignoring the order to detain the crowd. She was the one to practically scream and panic and trip back towards the FBI agents, out of breath and pale and shaky. She was the one to shout that there was blood everywhere. So much writing in blood and _oh god she was feeling sick._

 

Levi hadn’t moved. He watched her panic and watched the crowd start to do the same. That was really a given, considering the officer was having a complete hysterical panic attack at his feet. It was pathetic. What was even worse was they’d lost half of the people who were observing them like damn sheep from beyond the fence. Those were important. They were _**all**_ potentials at this point.

 

Levi scanned the crowd again. More importantly, the kid from the very back of the crowd was gone. Just fucking fantastic.

 

“Are you done glaring at the bystanders?” Irvin’s voice. Levi didn’t even bother to turn.

 

“No. Did Auruo get his fucking job done before Petra caused them to run?”

 

“Partially. There was about half he didn’t get actual pictures of. Halfway through he switched from a camera to video, so we should at least have a glimpse of everyone who was here.”

 

He felt his shoulders relax. Just a bit, but enough. “Better than nothing. So what the hell was she sobbing about anyways?”  
  
“Normal field agents completely skipped the supply shed set up a ways away from where the body was left. No one bothered to check it, but looks like the killer left something else there. I haven’t taken a look at it myself... but officer Zakarius filled me in,” Irvin led the way towards the new find. The dust kicked up into the air from both of their steps, causing a murky filter over their vision. Levi frowned.

 

“And?”

 

Irvin shook his head. He pulled out another set of gloves and tossed them to Levi, who slipped them over his hands without even thinking. Irvin did the same. “It’s not pretty.”

 

"Well of course it's not," the shorter sneered. He stepped around the corner and passed another group of field agents. Minor positions. Useless. They nodded in mock respect and moved out of the way.

 

The FBI agents stopped at the metal back of the shed. It took a second for the scene to sink in and for Levi to mutter every curse word he knew under his breath.

 

Blood everywhere was an understatement. The entire metal back of the shed was _covered_ in a layer of it. Not just splotches, it was like someone took a paint roller and made sure it looked _professional_. There were spaces left untouched in the middle, however, where a word was left silver. With the shed at six and a half feet tall, Levi had to tilt his head up to see the other phrase left under the larger one.

 

"Have pictures been taken?"

 

"They got on it as soon as officer Ral found it," Irvin replied. Quietly so only Levi could hear. The latter nodded and knelt to examine the bottom of the shed.

 

"How the fuck did they manage to not notice a shit ton of blood left behind?"

 

"Trost's officers don't really have to deal with murder this often. In fact, this is probably the first big one they've ever had."

 

"Well someone better fire them. Protocol means looking everywhere around the scene and a given amount around the body. Not find the body and golly damn gee look we're free," he snarled. His fingers brushed against the bottom of the metal, against the blood that continued right to the dirt. It was dry, surprisingly. Whoever did this wanted it covered completely. Neatly. They didn't like to leave mistakes it seemed. Irvin stepped behind him and ran a gloved hand up the red wall.

 

He pulled it away. It was completely red. "Still wet."

 

"Not too surprising. After all, look how much there is. It'd take a miracle to have it all dry by the time the police would get here. However," Levi trailed off. He took the tactical knife out of his back pocket. With a flick the blade was out; he scraped the point across the dried out blood at the bottom of the shed. A flake fell off and he took a bag out of his vest pocket. He slipped it in and handed it to Irvin.

 

"This is older," he stated. "Give it to one of the idiots standing around to put it with the body. We'll compare it with the fresh sample."

 

"Don't you find it odd though?"

 

Levi raised his head at the question. "Find what odd?"

 

"How much blood is here. If you think about it, this would take a lot. Perhaps not a full gallon of blood but..."

 

"More than what out victim showed missing." Levi finished.

 

Irvin nodded stiffly, and then, "Our victim showed none missing."

 

"So another then?"

 

"Maybe, or maybe we're missing something about the body. Hanji'll look over it and tell us." Levi said. He bent down, something caught in the corner of his eye. Another group of letters smaller than the bigger word. They seemed to have been written in with a finger... Or a paintbrush, perhaps?

 

_But there hasn't been a paintbrush found. Yet... The strokes do seem to have a bristle-like texture to them. Perhaps the killer took the instrument with them? Unless it could be in the shed..._

 

He stood up and nearly into Irvin. The taller of the two was looking at the word haphazardly scrawled on the top of the wall. Large, it was hard to miss. Levi could take a guess that it had the bristle-like textures too.

 

“It says... Dix?” Irvin tried. He frowned, trying to understand what it meant.

 

“It means ten in french,” Levi replied. He bent down to the smaller words again and let them roll off of his tongue. “and down here it says ‘tu es lui’. Roughly translates to ‘You’re it.’”

 

_Does he see this as a game? Is that what the killer is trying to say? That we’re going to start playing tag with him?_

 

Irvin’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. “Why would he use french?”

 

“Not sure. Vic wasn’t french, was he?”

  
  
“Reports didn’t have anything in it.” Irvin sighed.

 

_Then why french? Is his next victim going to be french? Was his last?_

 

“Get Hanji on call and tell her to run the blood samples as soon as she gets them. Tell her to let the others look at the body before she does. The blood is more important at this point.”

  
  
“Think you found something?”

 

Levi pushed off the ground. He took a few steps back to look at the entire thing, then stepped around to the shed’s door. At the bottom of it by the hinge there was a small bulge. “Just a hunch.”

 

He pulled the bottom corner of the door, thankful it was made of cheap, pliable tin. Out rolled a decent sized paintbrush. One of those fan-like ones. The bristles were completely straight and covered in a dark red. He slipped it into another evidence bag and stood up.

 

“Do me a favor. Have someone look over this again while we meet with Hanji, would you? Get pictures or whatever the hell they have that’ll work. Just make sure it’s detailed.” Levi sighed. This was dragging on more than he wanted to and a meeting with her wasn’t going to help his shitty mood any.

 

Irvin seemed to get that though. He also seemed to get the fact that Levi didn’t really want to interact with any of the working officers right now, accounting the fact he didn’t pay attention to the list of who was working and therefore their names. He clapped the shorter’s shoulder. “I’ll tell Zakarius and meet you at the car.”

 

Levi didn’t say anything in reply. He just straightened his shoulders and walked back across the scene; past where the body had been removed and out of the entry gate.

  


 

**.o0o.**

It took nearly three hours of sitting at the bureau before Hanji showed up to get them. Bouncing all over the place with that stupid ass grin on her face, she was as chipper as always. Laughing, grinning and just being so fucking obnoxious talking about the blood samples and the condition of the body and how it was something she had _never_ seen before.

 

Levi wanted to rip his hair out **_after_** he ripped her throat out.

 

“-but it’s weird!” She was laughing now and spinning in her chair. “you would think that there wouldn’t be a difference!”

 

“That’s fucking wonderful,” he snarled. “but do you think we can get on with this?”

 

She made a face akin to a pout. “Well someone’s impatient today. Wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”

 

“Hanji I’m warning you-”

 

“I know, I know,” She sighed dramatically and pushed herself out of the chair. “You’ll kill me and feed my arm to my corpse or something like that. But really Levi, this is crazy.”

 

“If you _told_ us by now instead of rambling on about how _wonderful_ it is, I’d believe it.”

 

“What he’s trying to say is, if you wouldn’t mind,” Irvin put his hand on Levi’s shoulder, more as a motion to keep the other from killing the woman who was still grinning. “please elaborate on what you found.”

 

“Well for starters, agent Smith,” Hanji turned to her desk. There was a manilla envelope with a blue highlighter dash in the corner that she grabbed. As soon as she opened it, Levi could catch a glimpse of the photos from the crime scene. She took out a paper with a chart printed on it and put it on the lab table. “this is the first thing that caught my attention.”

 

“The blood.” Levi noted. He picked up the chart. It didn’t make much sense, considering it was made using the woman’s ways, but nonetheless there was one thing that was obvious about it.

 

Hanji nodded in approval. “That’s right. There are two different blood types, completely distinct from each other. Michael Grimes, the victim, was a type A. The majority of the shed wall was covered in a type O, oddly enough. That blood belongs to someone named Felix Bourgston.”

 

Irvin grabbed the paper from Levi. “Any connection between him and Grimes?”

 

Hanji shook her head. “Not entirely. As far as I know, Bourgston is still alive. The blood our killer used was donated blood, it seems. Unless Bourgston has gone missing in the hours between you two looking at the body and the last death.”

 

“Is it possible?”

 

“Possible yes,” she replied. “but, Levi, do you know who Felix Bourgston is?”

 

He shook his head. A quick motion. The DNA specialist nodded in return.

 

“He’s an old case from Stohess, before you and Smith here joined the force - which is probably why you’ve never really heard of him,” she cleared her throat and handed a different folder to the two. This one had a pink dash at the top. “Felix was infamous for a while. He’s a rapist who recently got on parole. He hasn’t committed a crime in years and has had some of our men keeping a close watch on him. He donates blood, has a wife and kid - the typical apple pie life type of deal now.”

 

“Wife?” Levi asked.

 

“Married to her for four years. Her name is Mira, she’s a teacher at the elementary school there.”

 

Levi felt a chill run down his spine. That bracelet was hers then. _It had to be hers._

 

“The bracelet was confirmed to be hers. Her fingerprints were on it. That adds her as a suspect, huh.” Hanji assured Levi with the first part. He felt his nails dig into his hand in return.

 

“Where is she now?” Irvin threw in.

 

“We’ve sent agent Moses to find her. He’ll be bringing her back here for questioning, then passing her off to someone who can keep an eye on her and keep her safe.”

 

 _So she’s not out of the woods yet_ , Levi frowned. He forced his hand to relax before he made himself bleed. It wasn’t easy. It was already starting to feel like this killer was playing with them.

 

“What about Felix?” he asked.

 

“No one knows where he is. There hasn’t been a sign of him in the past couple of days, actually.” Hanji pushed her glasses farther up her nose. Her hands folded on top of each other on the table. Her serious mode, as the two called it.

 

And serious it was. Completely serious with what came out of her mouth next. “The dried blood at the bottom of the shed did belong to Michael Grimes. You couldn’t tell at the crime scene, but there was a cut on his arm. Not a lot of blood was drained from the body it seems. Maybe a pint or half of one, but nothing over the top. Whatever the killer had in mind it seems they changed their way of thinking halfway through.”

 

Irvin flipped through the file on Grimes, looking for the page about the body. As soon as he found it he pointed at the pictures from the morgue. “They left bruises on the torso, though. They didn’t try to hide that. How come?”

 

She shrugged her shoulders. “No idea. Maybe the killer decided to mix it up? It’s not uncommon for a murder victim to have bruising on their body. Perhaps cutting the arm came after beating the man senseless. Either way, the killer had enough decency to suture the wound and dress it to look like it didn’t exist.”

 

“He didn’t inject anything else into the bloodstream?” Levi asked. This entire meeting was starting to piss him off more and more.

 

“Tests came back clear. He just took a little bit, covered the wound, and left the body.”

 

 _No progress_ , he narrowed his eyes. “Was your team able to figure out where he was killed?”

 

“They’re not even sure. Half of the reports from the soil say that there’s a good chance he was killed there, but-”

 

“There aren’t any _buts_ , Hanji.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she groaned. “but half of the reports also say he was killed somewhere else. We just can’t tell right now! Whoever this guy is knows what he’s doing, Levi. He’s done this before and I don’t think he’s going to stop. I think this is the start of whatever sick game he has in mind.”

 

He pinched the bridge of his nose like it’d fight off the headache all of this was causing.

 

“I’ve got someone else running all of the soil samples again and more in depth this time. I’ll let you know if we get anything new that’ll help us.”

 

Levi scoffed. “Have any good news while we’re sitting here?”

 

“They’ve got one man in for questioning. Bertholdt Fubar. He was supposed to be on morning guard at the military base around the time of the murder. I’ll give you a call when they actually start the interrogation.”

 

“Fine.” He sighed. He pushed himself away from the lab table with more force than necessary and walked out towards the door. This was all a waste of time. Nothing was coming back right. _Nothing_. Too many possibilities, too many variables and not enough solid evidence. And now, some girl could be in a lot of trouble.

 

“He’s in the worst mood I’ve seen in a while,” Hanji mumbled. Irvin hummed in agreement. He offered his hand to the DNA specialist and a terse smile.

 

“He’s just getting used to being on a case that challenges him. He’s probably irritated that out killer is putting up a fight and making it difficult.”  
  
“That’s a crude way of putting it.”  
  
Irvin shook her hand as a goodbye, the blazer to his suit draped over his arm. “But it’s the truth. It’s either that...or a lack of caffeine.”

 

Hanji’s laughter rang in the office behind him as he shut the door and joined Levi back in the wing’s lobby.

 

“What’s she having a fieldtrip about?”

 

Irvin shrugged. “Who knows. Let’s get something to eat before we head back to the crime scene, yeah?”

  
  
  


**.o0o.**

 

_Downtown Trost_

_Lawson’s Food, Roast_

_15:45, October 2013_

_Eren Jaeger_

_..._

 

Time was passing slowly today, he had realized. More so than usual. It wasn’t that he _liked_ feeling like he had more time, it was just the fact that it was taking so long for something new to happen.

  
After they’d left the crime scene, they’d gone back to the house. Mikasa chided him the entire way on how dangerous it was for him to show up, and Armin helped. Together they had run circles around him; telling him he was going to get caught...how stupid this was... how he needed to stop... this was going too far _already_.

 

And he had just sighed and continued to stare out the apartment window while they both left for wherever. The silence had been nice. It had given him time to think about the morning, and about what he’d do next.

 

He’d set up a clue for them. The blood belonging to Felix and the small message. He’d left two, actually, counting the bracelet. They’d just have to piece everything together and think hard about what it’d mean. It wasn’t just for _that_ death, though. It was for the next and the rest to come. This one had been a test to see what they could do. If the two new cops could figure it out and impress Eren, he’d step his game up and make them struggle after him.

 

It would be _fun._

 

 _But that fun will have to wait_ , Eren frowned. There was a buzzing from behind him and he turned to deal with the coffee machine’s whining. Actual work came first to earn money and observe. Actual work was his chance to figure out where everyone else stood.

 

Eren took the coffee pot and moved its contents into two cups. Add sugar as soon as that was done, a little bit of creamer, and hit the bell at the counter. Two orders done.

 

“Thanks Eren,” the girl smiled and took both cups.

 

“No problem Sasha. Just don’t tell Jean about the discount.”

 

She laughed. “Why not?”

 

“He’d throw a fit,” Connie threw in. Another regular at this place.

 

The other person behind the coffee stand’s counter turned to look at all three of them. He rolled his eyes and tried not to smile. “Come on guys, be nice.”

 

Connie laughed. He shook his head and grinned. “Don’t defend him! He has it comin’, you know.”

 

Marco just sighed and went back to cleaning the house cups.

 

The days he worked here were usually like this; dappled with the regulars that visited and the store’s clerks that wandered over during break. Set in the middle of the store, it was a small coffee shop but nothing to look over nonetheless. Good service with a smile, it was known for. And Eren was a large contributor to that. Even when Jean decided to act like a dick, he still smiled. Work did that to him. It made him seem social. A good person. Even if it was all an act.

 

“Who has it coming?” There was a scoff and the sound of one of the chairs sliding against the floor. _Speak of the devil,_ Eren smirked.

 

“No one.” Marco sighed. “Break?”

 

“Late lunch break. Whoever was in charge of stock messed up big time.”

 

“And how does it feel to be surrounded by vegetables for hours upon end?” Sasha teased. Jean stuck his tongue out like a kid and took the coffee that Marco offered him.

 

“Wonderful. The potatoes are fuckin great at listening.”

 

“Oh I bet,” Eren threw in. “They love hearing about your problems, don’t they?”

 

“No one asked you Jaeger.”

 

He laughed and watched Jean drink the coffee and make small talk with the other two customers. He watched Marco take the seat across from Jean and pay attention to every word. He observed and took note of how everyone acted.

  
This is why he loved this job.

 

“-they said he was killed.”

 

“Huh?” Sasha asked. “The thief that’s been going around?”

 

Jean folded his hands behind his head and leaned back in his chair. “Found out at the training base today. On Bertholdt’s watch.”

 

“No way,” Sasha gasped. “Do you think he’s gonna be a suspect then?”

 

“Probably, I mean, he was supposed to be on patrol then.”

 

This is what he wanted. Eren stepped around the counter to join the rest of the group, leaning against the glass case for the pastries. “He’d at least be considered as a suspect, may be taken in for questioning, but it’s Bertholdt. Do you really think he’d have anything to do with it?” he asked.

 

“Well with as much as he sweats,” Jean sneered, “it wouldn’t be too hard to pin him as suspicious.”

 

“But suspicion and actually being an accomplice or anything along those lines is different. They’ll probably ask him to provide an alibi, check it, then let him go. He’ll probably stop here later tonight to check in like always.” Eren shrugged.

 

“You seem to know a lot about this stuff, Eren.” Sasha pointed out. Eren laughed the comment off. He didn’t even **_freeze._**

 

“I read a lot of mystery books in my spare time.” he grinned. Played it off smoothly and watched her nod in response. It was too easy and they were too trusting.

 

The mood was shattered, though. Everyone fell down into silence when one of the two cops that showed up cleared their throat. Eren nearly grinned and lost it there. It was **them**.The tall blonde one and the shorter black haired one. Eren was taller than him, he realized, when he moved away from the pastry stand.

 

“Want to order something?” Eren asked. Service with a smile.

 

The shorter of the two looked at him with the same cold eyes from earlier. The corner of his mouth twitched, probably in annoyance, and he nodded. Eren practically ran behind the counter and waved Marco off when he stood up to help.

 

“What can I get you two?”

 

“I’m not having anything, thank you.” The taller of the two chuckled. He grabbed the plastic container out of the other’s hands. Chinese food, if Eren’s guess was right. “I’m going to go pay, Levi. Just meet me outside when you’re done.”

 

‘Levi’ nodded stiffly. He looked back at Eren with a frown. “Black, two packets of sugar, cinnamon, and milk.”

 

Eren’s smile turned into a grin. When the FBI agent tried to hand him the money, Eren waved it off.

 

“On the house since you’re doing so much to help us already.” he said gracefully in return. It was the _least_ he could do. This was his thank you for learning the man’s name. Those eyes narrowed, but Eren could see his shoulders visibly relax.

 

“I expect it done quickly.”

 

“Will do, sir.” He shot back. One last smile before setting to work.

 

During the time it took for the coffee to brew, part of him was hoping that the officer would notice who he was. He was hoping that the agent would realize he left the crime scene and would need to talk to him more. Then Eren would be able to observe the man, see how he acted. See how much they had figured out about the case already. Yet the other part of him hoped that he wouldn’t, so he wouldn’t have to deal with a scene and be forced to think too much and get out of potentially being dragged to the station.

 

It was honestly nice just watching.

 

“You look tired,” Eren said, leaning against the back counter. The coffee was almost done, but it still gave him enough time to poke at the officer.

 

Levi glared and his mouth turned down in a frown. “Unlike you, some of us have actual work.”

 

Eren chuckled. The coffee machine whined and he did the same thing as earlier. He poured the coffee into one of the to-go cups; added the milk, sugar and cinnamon, then handed it off to the frowning man with another smile. “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

 

Levi clicked his tongue in return. “Then act like it instead of socializing on the clock. Clean the counter off or some shit, there’s fingerprints all over it.”

 

Eren bowed his head as Levi turned to leave. He watched the officer take a quick drink, then a longer one when he deemed the coffee was well made. The blonde one from before was already walking back past the stand and out the automatic doors to the parking lot.

 

“Thank you for stopping by!” Marco was the one to shout that out. The officer didn’t give them another glance. He just walked away and after the other officer.

 

Eren’s phone buzzed. A text message. _**Everything’s set up.**_

 

He untied the apron and grinned. This was going to perfectly.  “Marco, I’m leaving for the day. Mikasa just sent me a text, I’ve gotta go.” he shouted over the counter. Marco waved. Just like Sasha and Connie. Jean gave a quick nod.

 

Eren threw his apron into his bag under the counter and slung it over his shoulder. He had five minutes roughly to leave out the other door. He had roughly five minutes before the call was placed for the second body being found.

 

He had roughly three before that FBI agent recognized him from earlier and came running back in the building.

 

Eren shoved his phone back in his pocket and set off towards the back exit. Right as he reached the back of the store he looked back. Those cold grey eyes were standing back by the coffee shop, scanning. Looking for Eren. Looking for the boy who keeps disappearing.

 

 _And disappearing I’ll continue to do_ , Eren chuckled. The back door swung open with a scan of his ID card, and he stepped out into the afternoon heat.

 

_It’s time to get ready._

 


	3. Rain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings - Graphic violence, death, blood and gore from the get go. M for that and potentially Eren/Levi later on.  
> Quick AN: Sorry for the wait guys, internet was down for a few days and my dog got really sick so I didn't have much time to do anything but take care of her! Thank you all for the reviews, I'll be trying to reply to them as soon as possible and hello to new followers! Thank you guys too!
> 
> I scrapped this chapter and restarted multiple times so I don't feel much towards this right now, sorry about that. Also no Eren's view in this chapter because I couldn't fit it in ~ and besides he's gonna be the main focus of the next one and I am so excited to write chapter 4 you have no idea.
> 
> Anyways enjoy ~

 

* * *

 

 

 

**.o0o.**

_Downtown Trost_

_Lawson’s Food_

_15:50, October 2013_

_Special Agent Levi_

_..._

He was stupid. So goddamn _stupid_. How the fuck did he even _forget_ the kid in the first place? Those damn eyes should have been a dead giveaway. Hell the kid should have fucking flinched or something.

But no, the kid hadn’t done anything. He’d just been a good worker and fetched the nice FBI agent his coffee, gave him service with a smile then went on his merry way out the door.

God fucking _damn it._

“It’s too much to have the place surrounded, isn’t it.” Levi sighed.

“Is it a suspect?” Irvin asked.

  
Levi pinched the bridge of his nose. They were gathering too much attention; a couple of people stopped to stare at them, a kid whispered something to their mom on the way out. It was too obvious. “He was there at the scene then left when everything went to shit.”

“Are you certain it was him?”

He was about ready to snap. “I’m certain, agent Smith.”

Irvin frowned at Levi’s tone but did nothing to retaliate against it. “Then why didn’t you stop him earlier?”

“Because I have a migraine eating me up the ass and I forgot.” Levi spat. A couple walked up to the other barista working at the stand, pointing over to the two agents. Probably asking what was wrong, he glared at them. There was a flash of brunette hair behind them walking and towards the back of the store.

Him. That had to be him.

There was a hand on his shoulder, then the other’s voice. “If you think that’s him, go. I’ll talk to his co-worker, get his name and address and a phone number if possible.”

That was all he needed.

He took off, walking around the coffee stand and straight down the card aisle after the flash of hair. It wasn’t running, but it was fast enough to make more people overly concerned and move out of his damn way. He pushed past a cart being driven by an old man, nearly sending it into one of the display racks. Enough of a distraction to lose the kid around the corner. Levi cursed and picked up his pace to a run.

Around the corner, taking a straight run past the freezer section and straight towards the employee exit; He ran past the damn idiots who didn’t know how to move out of the way. Right at the alcove that lead to the exit, he caught up. Levi’s hand grabbed the kid’s shoulders and with a quick flick had him flipped around with his back against the wall. The woman closest to them gasped and quickly walked away with a horrified look.

Levi looked back over his shoulder at her retreating form. _Good riddance_ , he mused. He turned back to the kid he had painfully pinned and felt his mood go downhill. He was around the same height with the same hair color, except his hair was completely different. Same with the clothes, same with the face. This one’s eyes were blue. The other’s were green.

“Is... there a problem, officer?” he shakily asked. There was a whistle behind Levi. Another glance over his shoulder showed Irvin holding a slip of paper. He waved it, crossed his arms and waited.

“You were walking too damn slow.” Levi practically growled and threw the kid further towards the exit door. He tripped and fell on the ground. Weak. Pathetic and _so irritable for getting in the way of an investigation-_

“I apologize for his behavior. We’re looking for someone and we mistook you for him. It would be wise, however for you to be on your way.” Irvin’s voice. Levi didn’t realize the hand practically forcing him away by his arm. The kid nodded and scrambled to slide his ID card through the scanner and ran out the door.

“Tell me those kids gave you some fucking good news for once.”

The blonde nodded and handed Levi the slip of paper. It was a piece of the coffee shop’s memo pad with ‘Roast’ printed in the corner. The name ‘Eren Jaeger’ was scribbled out largely in pen; an address and a phone number was too.

“His coworker was helpful, thankfully. He said that Eren got a text from his sister and took off. He wasn’t even supposed to be in to work today.”

“Well that’s fucking helpful.” Levi sighed. He shoved the paper back into Irvin’s hand. He pulled out his phone, checked it for messages. Nothing from Hanji yet.

“Levi, did you hear anything from their conversation before they realized we were there?”

“Depends on what you mean.”

  
“Bertholdt Fubar is apparently a regular there.”

Levi met Irvin’s eyes at that. “As in our MIA guard?”

“Exactly the same one.”

“You think this Jaegar kid had business with him that morning?”

Irvin shrugged.

They walked back towards the car. Levi practically threw open his door and slouched in his seat once they got there. The food from earlier was left in a plastic bag on the floor and his coffee was still in the cup holder. His coffee was cold, thankfully the food wasn’t. He popped the plastic container’s lid and dug into the chinese food, needing something in his system. If not, his thinking would be muddled. Something else could slip by him like that scene back there.

“Well, it’s a possibility, isn’t it? Whenever Hanji calls us to tell us that Fubar is there for questioning, we’ll go in. After that we’ll call Jaeger and see what we can do about him.”

Levi snorted and sunk further into his seat. He waited for Irvin to finish his food, waited for his phone to ring, which he knew it wouldn’t. Not this soon; Hanji never got off her ass to do important things or actually call at a decent time with information. If she _did_ call before tomorrow, it’d be about her damn experiments and the blood samples she was messing with. Nothing about the victim. Nothing about the missing wife. Nothing helpful. And even worse, he’d be able to tell because of her shitty ringtone, and that fucking picture of her shitty glasses flashing across his phone’s screen-

His phone vibrated against leg again and what sounded like screeching erupted from his pocket when he took it out. _Speak of the devil and she’ll appear_ , he sighed. His eyes narrowed into a glare as he clicked the ‘answer’ button.

“Hanji.”

“Levi! I’m surprised you didn’t let it go to voicemail like usual!” she laughed. He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose in return.

She just continued, “Are you with agent Smith?”

 

“If you wanted to talk to him you should have called his god damn phone.”

 

“Yeesh, what’s got you in a bad mood? Anyways that’s not why I called. Listen-” her side cut out for a moment while there was the sound of papers being shuffled. Probably digging for something on her hell hole of a desk. She apparently found it because she laughed. “Bourgston’s been found. I’ve got the address here, you ready?”

“Wait, when the fuck did that happen?”

She hummed for a second. “Mmm about half an hour ago? I thought someone would have called you, but I had to call you anyways so it was my job. Sorry about that!”

Oh dear lord he was going to strangle her the next time he saw her. Levi took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down before he snapped his phone. Or threw it out the window, whichever would break it faster and make her _shut **up.**_

“They aren’t touching the body until you get there, just a heads up. You and Smith get full control over the scene since you’re FBI and what not. Ral wanted me to tell you they did some basic ground work though.”

“Great,” Levi sighed. “Just give me the address and we’ll get over there.”

“Alright. Call me when you’re done, would you? Tell me what you’ve found out so I can compare it to what I’ll see.”

 

 

  
**.**   
**.o0o.  
.**

__

_Downtown Trost_

_Garrison Pub_

_16:30, October 2013_

_Special Agent Levi_

_…_

The Garrison Pub was a small joint shoved off to the side of the busy main street, crammed in between an old antique shop and an alley. Looking like it was put together by bricks years ago it was underrated. Underappreciated. The tacky neon sign that was constantly left on was finally off, now just sitting void in the window. Even from here Levi could make out the roses that glowed bright red most of the time.

“Brings back memories of first joining the force, huh?” Irvin chuckled darkly. He stepped out of the car to join Levi and zipped up his windbreaker. The clouds overhead were slowly turning dark and it was starting to reek of rain.

Levi responded with a snort and dug for his flashlight in his pocket. He clicked it on and sent the beam down the alley’s mouth. Halfway down where the employee exit to the pub was, a group of field agents were bent down. The half that wasn’t was setting up a tarp over the body. The body itself was roped off with caution tape and laying flat on the ground.

“Minus the dead body and a fuck ton of alcohol? Yeah.”

As soon as they walked up, Levi could make out agent Ral crouched over the victim. She had her own flashlight out and shining on the victim’s face. The beam traveled down its body, then back to the notepad that was perched on her knee. When she heard their footsteps she turned to offer a tense smile and wave her pencil in a ‘hello’.

“Did Hanji call you?”

 

“Albeit a little late,” Irvin returned. Stiff and proper as usual. He knelt under the tarp and held it up for Levi to do the same.

It shouldn’t have surprised him that he already knew who it was. Hell, everyone probably did before they arrived. Felix Bourgston - although a little splotchy and starting to bloat, it seemed - lay there, hands over his chest and one leg bent inwards. His eyes were wide open and staring up towards the greying sky.

He picked up Bourgston’s arm with one hand, let it drop back on to the asphalt. The body wasn’t stiff anymore; the rigor mortis stage was over. “Who found him?”

Petra closed the notepad and stood. She brushed off her legs and pulled her coat tighter around her. “Hannes, I think his name was. The owner of this place. He said he came to dump the garbage out and... found this instead.”

Levi snorted and held his flashlight up to the victim’s face. He shone it in one eye. Then the other. Nothing out of the ordinary, except for contacts.

 

“Probably shit himself then,” he sneered. “hand me some gloves, would you?”

She handed him an evidence bag along with them. A few seconds later and one contact was removed from one of Bourgston’s eyes.

“Contacts?” Petra tilted her head. “That’s odd, the reports didn’t say anything about him wearing contacts.”

_Then why would the killer do this? Is it another clue leading to the next victim? Their wife now?_

“What else did the reports say,” he handed her the bag.

“You mean Hanji didn’t give them to you?”

“No, she didn’t.” He growled. Wonderful. Just fucking _wonderful._

“You do your thing here. I’m going to go talk to Hannes and the rest of the agents here, see what we have so far.” Irvin muttered. Levi nodded.

“Petra.”

“Hmm?”

“Tell me what you know.”

She took a deep breath. “Well, he’s been dead for over 72 hours. He’s gone through rigor mortis, and is starting to bloat. Why he hasn’t completely yet is beyond my knowledge,” she paused to move her hand towards Bourgston’s sleeve. She knelt down again and rolled it up, showing off skin that was going from green to black. “Medical team did look at him. His abdomen is about the same.

“There’s a gash on the back of his shoulder,” she picked him up and leaned him forward against her arm. “along with one along his back. They’re deep, blood’s dried and there’s trace of infection. But with as deep the gashes are... it’d make sense for how much of his blood was at the last scene.”

She dropped him back down onto the asphalt and threw her gloves in a spare bag with a grimace. Levi pressed his hand down on Bourgston’s arm, then his wrist. His hand flexed, and the fist opened. A piece of paper fell out and to the ground.

“Well, well, look what we have here.” he grabbed it, stuck his flashlight in his mouth while he unfolded it.

“Another letter?” Petra looked over his shoulder.

He didn’t say anything. He pried the note open, trying not to tear it. The crease lines wore away at the pen marks. There was something scrawled on it, shakily. Levi turned the paper over. On the back was a number for some business, he assumed. The writing itself was near illegible to him, however, and he couldn’t make the language out.

“Is that... swedish?” Petra was still looking over his shoulder. He shook his head, tossed the note on the ground. His hands flew to Bourgston’s pockets in an attempt to find anything else. _Anything_. Jacket pockets were bare, pants pockets empty. In a last ditch effort he removed the shoes from his feet to see if anything was stuffed in there. Nothing.

“Agent Levi? What are you doing?”

“Case I worked a while back had the same thing happen. Note in the hand, but the killer fucked up and left things. A different slip of paper in the pocket with a print, hair. Anything. Just something.”

He stopped. There was _something._

“Shoes.”

 

“What?”

 

Endless questions. Where the hell was Irvin when he needed him? “His shoes.”

“What about them.”

Levi held one up again. He had to use his flashlight to see it clearly. The beam also lit up the makeshift cover. Rain was starting to fall.

“They’re too fancy. His wife is a teacher, right? Some low-grade job this day and age. She doesn’t make much, and with him being a prior rapist, he’s not going to get hired. He’d be lucky if some shitty dive of a diner hired him.”

He handed Petra the shoe. She turned it over to look at the tread on the bottom. “No scuff marks, nothing. They’re almost new, but they’re not. Take a look at the inside and it’s worn down. Not a lot, but enough. They’re not his.”

_Who’s are they? Upper class, obviously. Most likely belonging to someone in Stohess. Our next victim again? Do those contacts belong to them too?_

The rain was starting to pour harder. Some of it splashed against the ground and hit the body.

They were running out of time.

He shoved the note into the shoe and practically threw it at her. “Put this in a bag. Is Bossard here?”

“He’s with agent Smith I believe.”

“Tell him to get off his ass and start getting pictures again. Vantage points, viewpoints. There’s two entrances here, I need you to have someone sweep every inch from this side to that. And fast. We’re losing evidence here.”

_This is why he put the body here. Bourgston was killed elsewhere, obviously. But the way the rain is falling, it’s sweeping straight through this patch here and washing his work away._

Someone nudged his shoulder and he stepped aside. He recognized Erd Gin among the medical examiners; he helped pick the body up and moved the body bag away.

Irvin joined him a few minutes later. He handed Levi a camera. “There’s your pictures from both last scene and this. They swept the area before we showed up. Apparently the locals learned their lesson from last time.”

“‘Bout time.” Levi muttered. He shoved it into his pocket and turned his flashlight off, doing the same.

“This place was the site of Bourgston’s first act,” Irvin threw into the silence. He nodded towards the office building across the street. There was a cat in the upstairs window. “A man up there called it in. It’s no coincidence that he was placed here.”

Levi frowned. There was a movement behind the curtain. The cat walked off.

“Oh?”

Irvin sighed. They both watched the other agents scramble around to pick up the equipment they had set out. Levi couldn’t be more thankful for the lack of onlookers this time.

“What did you find?”

“Body was at least three days old, the contacts - which you were there for - fancy ass italian shoes, and another note.”

“Note,” Irvin echoed. “Another?”

“Surprise, surprise there wasn’t a fuckton of blood this time,” he replied. The officers around them finished packing up; they moved to the side so they weren’t in the way. When Petra left last, they followed out and towards their car across the street.

“It didn’t seem like there was any. Hannes didn’t report any, and I checked with everyone else. The body was just there like that. Just pristine and laying there.”

“Gash on his shoulder and another on his back. They weren’t dressed like Grimes’. They were left open like the killer didn’t give a shit.”

“Changed his MO?”

“Dunno. Could be someone else, we don’t know yet.” He replied. He slipped into the driver’s seat and waited for Irvin to hand him the keys. He started up the car, cracked his window a bit, and turned on the heater. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Irvin take a file out of his windbreaker.

“Auruo gave us the file on Bourgston to look over. I figure you’d appreciate that. After all, you’ve barely brushed his case in your years.”

He hadn’t thought that it’d be extremely necessary to anything they’d do, Levi wanted to spit back. Irvin put the folder in the back seat, though, and waited all too patiently for a response. Levi’s response was to merge the car out and into the street.

“I’ll look it over when Hanji calls us in.”

The conversation was dropped, just like that.

It wasn’t an uncomfortable silence while they drove, Levi was thankful for that. Honestly, it was why he and the blonde got along so well. They didn’t need to say anything that wasn’t needed, and they didn’t need to have constant conversation to feel at ease. It was a balance between personalities. He’d even go far enough to say he was thankful for Irvin being on the case with him, if only for how he dealt with people. Irvin had people skills that Levi lacked. Levi had the authoritative and rogue aura that made people listen. Something that he’d learned from the first time they met. Why he decided to reflect on this as he drove, he really didn’t know. It gave him a distraction at least from the case.

He stopped at a red light. The rain still hadn’t let up. In fact, it’d even gotten worse. The sky was an angry black now, making it hard to see, and the car’s wipers were doing absolute shit to help keep his view clear.

  
He saw a green light and put his foot on the gas.

Right into a new problem.

He had to hit his brakes fast, and the figure he nearly hit slammed a hand down onto the hood.

Irvin jumped in the seat next to him.

Levi waited for the guy to move, but he didn’t. He flashed his highbeams twice and caught a startled face with green eyes underneath the makeshift umbrella the guy was holding.

It took him a split second before he realized _who_ exactly was standing right in front of his car.

“Son of a bitch,” he muttered. He unbuckled his seatbelt and was ready to throw the car door open before he lost him again. Irvin attempted to grab his arm, but he brushed it off. Eren Jaeger stood there for a second more before the rain made him realize he had to move.

That was Levi’s cue.

“Oi! Kid!” He yelled. The car door slammed shut behind him. He faintly heard Irvin’s open, but the damn kid turned around and gave him a confused look.

“Sir?” he questioned. He took in Levi’s stare and practically paled. “Look I’m sorry about walking in front of your car, really-”  
  
“Jaeger right?” Levi interrupted. Those green eyes blinked and Eren nodded his head cautiously.

“Are you busy right now?” He asked.

Eren pulled his jacket tighter around him, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Nervous, Levi noted, the kid was nervous.

“No... not entirely,” Eren replied.

“You wouldn’t mind if I asked you a few questions then?”

“Who are you guys, first off?” His tone slipped into something defensive. Levi was about ready to slam the kid onto the ground if he kept it up.

“FBI. We want to ask you about the murder of Michael Grimes.”

Whether it was the realization that he had left the scene, or that they were the same officers from before it didn’t matter. Something flashed in Eren’s eyes that made Levi breathe in relief. Nerves... fear... something.

Either way, Levi had finally caught up.

“There’s a cafe right around the corner. Let’s talk.”


	4. Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: And here's chapter 4 a little later than I anticipated again /sighs - I'm working on a page on my tumblr for this however. With character profiles, who's in what, murder scenes and locations and yeah. I'll update this chapter with the link when it's done ~
> 
> Shout out to my Eren who motivated me to write more and to finish editing this last night while killing my feels and who's just been a wonderful person getting to know the past few days as well u v u 
> 
> Also if you guys have any questions or anything about this or about anything just send me a message on my tumblr (fuct-tape) because I'm more likely to respond to that there than here ~ same with tagging things. If I make a post for this or if you guys have like. whatever to say about it and want me to see (not that you would lmao) then use the tag: fic: h&s that's the one I'll be using officially!
> 
> Enjoy!

* * *

**.o0o.**

_Downtown Trost_

_Cafe Diem_

_17:15, October 2013_

_Eren Jaeger_

_..._

"Let's start with generic questions first, shall we? Start with your name."

The café was calm, surprisingly enough for how hard the rain continued to pour and how relentless it remained. They were the only two there, aside from a small business meeting, he could guess, that was keeping to themselves tables away. One of the baristas was scrubbing a table by the door. A young girl with a pretty face and light blonde hair. If he remembered right, her name was Krista. She'd been the one to politely ask them to remove their jackets before they made puddles everywhere and had hung them up on the rack by the door. The overly baggy one that he'd borrowed from Krischtein, in exchange for half of his lunch, belonged to him, and the standard black windbreaker with 'FBI' in bright yellow on the arms was his company's.

Eren spun his coffee cup around in slow circles on the table. The tea inside of it rippled in the center, spreading out to the edges. It was warm, a complete parallel to the man's face who sat across from him.

Special agent Levi, last name classified, as he'd told him. Eren had remembered him from the two times they'd met before. At the crime scene, where Eren had left, and at the coffee shop, where the agent had been too slow.

Eren took a drink.  _Some things never change._

"You already know my name sir," he smiled. "why would I need to tell you it again?"

The man sighed in agitation and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a thin device with buttons on the side. It didn't even have to touch the table for Eren to know what it was; a voice recorder, made for situations just like this.

The agent leaned across the table towards him and pressed the button with the little red circle on it. The tape in it jarred to life, and Eren felt a surge of excitement. This is was what he'd been looking forward to, right? The first step in the game.

A game that he was set on winning.

"Name." the agent ordered again.

"Eren Jaeger."

"Age."

"Nineteen." he returned. Simple as that. He took another drink.

The agent drummed his fingers against the table. "So you work at the coffee shop in Lawson's."

"Only on the weekends." Eren replied. The cup turned easily in his fingers, and he resumed creating ripples in the surface. Little breaks and waves that messed up the balance. "Other than that I'm a student."

"Weekends, huh." Levi paused and leaned back in his chair. The movement was stiff, Eren noticed, like he was trying to intimidate him. "What were you doing there today then? Last time I checked it's a tuesday."

"Marco was alone today and asked for help for part of his shift. Right before he had to close, I left." Eren offered a nervous smile. "I had things to do."

The sudden change in the man's posture wasn't something Eren was actually expecting. He would have expected Levi to tense up, to be honest, not relax. It was a complete change of game.

"Things to do." Levi crossed his arms. "Downtown in the rain isn't a safe place to be, especially for a kid your age. Gangs and thugs and shit like that that'd grab you in a second and use this weather for cover. Isn't this part of town a little far from the bus that'll take you back to Shinganshina?"

He paused. Was  _that_  going to be Levi's game?

"Are you insinuating something officer?" He asked. It came off as politely, as well as confused, just how Eren wanted.

Levi wasn't phased. In fact, it seemed like Eren's response was what he wanted. "Should I be?"

 _You are_. Eren shook his head no. "It's just that in shows whenever an officer says that, it means they actually are." he retorted.

The man rolled his eyes and the cold grey narrowed into a glare. "Then if it helps you answer things, think of it that way. What were you doing at the crime scene this morning?"

 _Ah, he asked the question later than expected_ , Eren mused. He scratched the back of his neck sheepishly and let out an awkward chuckle. "So you noticed, huh?"

Oh the look the officer was giving him would _kill_  him if it could. He'd never thought that eyes could seem so angry and venomous because of a simple question. It was a fun discovery.

"You skipping around the question doesn't make yourself look good. In fact it's putting you another notch closer to my dragging your ass back to the bureau. We'd keep you there, you know, for as long as we needed. Locked in a piss poor excuse for a cell, all alone. Is that what you want?"

Levi was playing the bad cop now, it seemed. Eren shook his head. He gripped the cup tighter. "N-no sir."

"Then answer the question."

"I have a friend that's a trainee there. Some days he has guard duty first thing in the morning, and I usually try to bring him coffee and something to eat before his shift. It's a tradeoff for bringing us food on our lunch break, really."

"Bertholdt Fubar." Levi twisted the recorder to look at the tape. Apparently it was full enough, because he shoved it back away and resumed glaring at Eren. "He's been taken in for questioning. Not showing up to his shift on time and having a body dropped off in his work space doesn't look too good, now does it."

"But Bertholdt wouldn't do anything!"

Eren watched Levi pinch the bridge of his nose. It was obvious that it was an annoyed reaction, especially when Levi narrowed his eyes at him again. Those cold grey were so hard to read, Eren realized. He couldn't pick out any one emotion or hint in them.

"Your opinion on that matter doesn't mean anything to me."

_Oh but it should. It should matter so much._

Eren sighed in defeat and slunk farther down into his chair. One more drink and his tea was gone.

"How do you usually get to the military base? It's not like there's a bus that drives out that far that early in the damn morning."

"My sister takes me on the way to work."

"So she drives you there, to the coffee shop, and then…?"

"To the gym." Eren finished. Levi raised a brow but didn't say anything else on the matter. He didn't have to; Eren could still see the doubt clear on his face.

"Why did you leave the crime scene?"

 _There's the other question_ , Eren mused. He straightened up in his chair before replying. "Everyone started freaking out.  ** _I_**  started freaking out. It wasn't too hard to notice the other officer screaming. It scared everyone there."

"So that's why you left. Nothing more?"

Eren smiled. "Nothing sir. I didn't want to get in the way of the investigation, same with the crowd."

If the agent didn't buy it, he didn't say anything. Instead he let out a sharp breath. "So where were you headed before walking in front of my car."

The tape stopped with a loud  _click_. Levi didn't touch the recorder, didn't even let his eyes wander to it. He was completely focused on Eren and it was  _exciting_.

"Back to the bus stop. My sister's an instructor at the gym at the end of the block; she forgot her gloves at home and asked me to drop them off after I got done at work."

"What is she, a boxer?"

"Exactly that." Eren laughed. It was a breathless laugh that he mentally waved off. "Then I got caught in the downpour and took a wrong turn. You nearly hit me, and here we are."

"Having tea." Levi added bitterly.

Eren laughed and waved the comment off. "No, I'm having tea.  _You_  didn't want anything."

The agent snorted and went back to tapping his fingers against the table. A habit, Eren assumed. A bored, irritated habit. It also hinted to the fact that the agent was thinking about leaving.

_But they were just starting to have fun._

"So how did he die?" Eren asked. He had to keep the nice officer there just a bit longer. He wanted to know how much they knew. He wanted to know how much Levi knew.

"That's classified information, brat. You'll have to wait until the news picks it up."

He frowned. "But you could just tell me now."

"You know for a kid who saw a dead body, you're sure eager to relive it." Oh the agent's voice turned cold again. He must have made him angry. "Or is there another reason, huh?"

"No, sir. Just curious. Do you blame me?"

"No, I suppose not. Brats like you get too into the media these days. Let me guess, you watch a lot of crime shows." it came off as condescending. Just how Levi probably meant it.

Eren smiled sheepishly in return. "How'd you know?"

"What else is there to do anymore besides watching people get killed on tv?"

He hummed in agreement at that. Such a true statement for this day and age; you couldn't flip through the local channels without some sort of violent media. Commercials, shows, the news… it didn't matter. Eren couldn't keep track of how many stories there would be about gang violence in Shinganshina, or drug dealers in Trost. He rarely heard anything from Sina though, which was expected. It was, after all, the rich city.

_That was soon to change, however._

"You have a point," he finally replied. Levi rolled his eyes. The rain outside had finally subsided into practically nothing, which Eren assumed meant that their meeting was over. That fact was sealed once the FBI agent's phone went off and he answered it in a hushed tone. Mumbled words about downtown and the bureau weren't hard for Eren to pick up. Same with Bertholdt's name being said on the other line.

Levi ended the call with an irritated sigh and picked the voice recorder back up and slipped it into his pocket. In its place he left a business card; a standard one from the station in Trost.

"I've got some shit to go take care of. Your friend is about to be questioned and I have to go play bad cop. If you learn anything about the guy doing this, or remember anything else, call the bottom number. It'll send you to my desk."

"Will do officer."

"Expect a call from either myself or agent Smith tomorrow too. We'll need prints, another statement, and your picture."

That was new, Eren realized. He honestly didn't expect that. Not this early, at least.

"If you need someone to pick you up just say something. When it comes to cases like this we're allowed to play taxi. Even for some kid who lives out in the damn boons."

Eren walked with the agent towards the door. Levi remained behind him the entire time, even to put his coat on. At full height, the man came up to Eren's shoulder, which was hilarious in its own way. He didn't have much time to dwell on the thought before he was being rushed out the door and back into the fall air. The rain was still coming down in a drizzle, but it wouldn't be too bad.

No, the rain was nice to think in. And Eren had a lot to think about.

The car that nearly hit him earlier was parked across the street with the blonde agent in the driver's seat. Just from intuition, that would be agent Smith. He looked up and over at Levi, flashing a manilla envelope in the window.

"Keep out of trouble kid," the agent turned to give him a quick look that Eren couldn't pick out the meaning behind. "Be at the station by noon."

With that Levi crossed the street without another glance back. He watched the man slip into the passenger's seat, and he watched the car drive off and around the corner. It wasn't until a few minutes after that that Eren smiled.

He drew his jacket around himself to block out the wind and started walking towards the bus stop that would take him back to his apartment.

This was going to be more fun than he originally thought.

 

 

**.**

**.o0o.**

**.**

_Shinganshina Outskirts_

_Apartment Complex C_

_18:00, October 2013_

_Eren Jaeger_

_..._

When he got back to the apartment, the first thing he noticed was the note. It was scrawled quickly, and stuck on the corner of the half wall that lined the door and separated the entrance from the living room. He recognized it automatically as Mikasa's. Another late day with work, she made food when she got home for a break. Heat it up when you get hungry.

It was funny how motherly she acted, Eren thought to himself. He walked around the wall to find his bag sitting on the coffee table, surrounded by a couch and two armchairs. He must have forgotten it in Mikasa's car then.

He opened the front pouch of it and found a silver ring. It wasn't anything fancy, and the diamond that sat on the top of it was fake. Such a horrible replica of the real thing, really. Which is why _she_  wouldn't miss it. He twirled its plastic bag under the light. One of the stones was missing from the top. Such a shame; it was actually quite pretty.

He walked across the living room to the kitchen. There was an island in the center of it, with a breakfast bar that separated it from the living room. Faux granite counters, a horrible excuse for a stove and fridge, and a dishwasher that didn't work half the time. He grabbed a pen off the bar and ripped a piece of paper from the notepad that was sitting there. He wrote out a question, titled it to Armin, and sat the ring on it.

Now to wait.

It took about another half hour for the door to open again and for someone to shuffle into the apartment. From the sound of the footsteps that disappeared down the hall, he guessed it was Mikasa. A split second later and, sure enough, she walked into the kitchen. First stop was the cabinet above the sink for a glass, second was the water dispenser in the fridge.

"You're home early," she commented. "I thought you were going to come back to the gym?"

"Had an interview,"

Her eyes lit up at that. "Somewhere besides the coffee shop?"

"Different kind of interview, Mikasa. One of the new feds that's on the case."

She stood on the other side of the breakfast bar, practically throwing the glass down onto the counter at Eren's words. Her hands tightened around the cup, tight enough to make her knuckles turn white. "Did they hurt you?"

"No. The man who questioned me suspected me, I'll tell you that now." he replied. He watched as one of Mikasa's hands went up to twirl in the ends of her scarf. Nervous habit, one that she'd been doing more and more recently, he noted. She tugged on it, tightened it, then met Eren's eyes.

"They took you downtown?"

"No. Just a few blocks away from the Garrison at the corner cafe. They'd just finished looking at the second body," he paused to fold his arms and lay them on the counter. "He knew what he was doing. The way he acted, the way he treated the entire situation. He watched me like a hawk; it was pretty creepy, really."

"Did you tell them anything." she pressed again.

"I'm not that stupid. I can handle myself around these guys without needing a babysitter, okay?" He laughed and waved the hand that tried to grab his shoulder away. "You act like you're the one they're after."

 _Well, that's partially true_ , he realized. Mikasa may not be the actual killer in these murders, but she was just as at fault as Eren was essentially. The loving girl who seemed distant, yet people loved and asked about wherever Eren went, his sister was known around the city. Both for being an instructor at the gym and one of the only kids to get a GED then skip straight to college. She was smart, taking standard classes right now in order to get a feel for things.

But Eren knew better.

He knew what made her tick. He knew just how careful she was when it came to keeping Eren safe, making her the best person to turn to when it came to setting the bodies up. She hated it, Eren knew that for sure, but she wouldn't leave him. She wouldn't leave him even if it meant her downfall as well. That's what he loved about her. As overbearing as she could be half the time with constantly hanging over him, she was there. She didn't care what it was as long as Eren was involved. Even if it came to disposing of his habits.

"They took Bertholdt in," he blurted out. Mikasa paused. The glass was halfway to her lips.

"Fubar?"

"Late to guard duty," he replied. "Sad fate, isn't it? Being dragged into such a crime. Reiner will kick his ass once he gets back."

"Eren-"

"You know it's true. They're wasting their time, they're looking in the wrong spots."

"Stop-"

"We wasted so much blood for the first scene, barely any for the second. What about the third? How much will we have to drain to create a picture that'll stick-"

"Eren." She chided. The glass slammed back down against the counter. It snapped him from his thoughts.

"I know, I know." he sighed. "Can you do me a favor, though?"

"What is it?"

"Well two things, really." He picked up the pen and notepad again. Quickly he jotted down two names and slid them over to her. "Levi and Irvin. I want as much information as you can find on them. I want to know what cases they've been in, what they've seen, what makes them perfect for this case."

She tore the paper out. Slipped it into her pocket. "I'll see what I can find. What's the second thing?"

"The one who asked me questions told me to be at the station by noon tomorrow."

Mikasa's face fell and complete panic took over. He quickly reached out to cover her hand with his own, soothingly. Her free hand tangled itself in the scarf. Again.

"Nothing bad, Mikasa. They need my picture and fingerprints. It's a precaution they have to take, especially since we left the first scene. The question is: do you want to take me there tomorrow?"

"Eren that's too dangerous."

Wasn't _everything?_  He smiled briefly. "If you don't want to, the nice agent gave me his desk number to call, I can get someone to pick me up."

"No." She frowned. "No. I'll take you. I don't want you going there alone."

"He might notice you too, you know. You'd have to do the same thing then."

The way she paused then. She was nervous. Her shoulders hunched, and he would take a guess that her breathing was picking up it's pace. Not an overreaction, just a normal human reaction to the thought of this. It was walking into a lion's den so to speak.

"It'll be fine." she murmured. In a second the nerves were gone. Her shoulders straightened out, and she ran a hand through her hair. "You're not going inside without me, though."

That was why he loved Mikasa. Her adaptability. How quick she could snap back into the cold and distant girl he saw when she wasn't mothering him.

He grinned, stood up and walked over to her side. He straightened her scarf, picking out the strands of black that got stuck in the rough fabric and with a laugh simply said, "Wouldn't dream of it."

He smiled.

Eighteen hours left until he had to see them again.

Eighteen hours until he planned out the rest of the game.


	5. Prints

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: School's a pain and so is getting sick. Just. Urgh. Long chapter as well, I just wanted to get everything that I had planned down into one so things can start picking up from here ~ I'll be uploading this to tumblr too since I haven't done that yet. Any asks that I get regarding anything important in the story on my tumblr I'll be posting under the tag: Fic: hide and seek - which is what I use to give rough update times and shit too. Feel free to track it ~
> 
> Let's get this show on the road.

* * *

**.**

**.o0o.**

.

_Downtown Trost_

_F.B.I Main Building_

_18:00, October 2013_

_Special Agent Levi_

_..._

“So did the kid check out?”

“Yeah, as nothing but annoying as hell,” Levi responded. He leafed through the papers in the file one more time. Updated autopsy report on Grimes… the new one for Bourgston… still _nothing_ was connecting. Nothing except for the notes and the items not belonging to the victims. He picked up the file for Bourgston and removed the paper clip at the top to get a small piece of paper. Three words were on it: contacts, note, and shoes.

However he wouldn’t be able to actually focus on the damn papers in front of him with Irwin breathing down his neck. He looked up at the agent in front of him who was holding out a coffee cup. The steam that floated into the air above the rim promised the caffeine that he missed out on earlier. “I’m serious, Levi.” Irwin chided.

Levi just rolled his eyes. “You think I’m joking? The kid wasn’t any help. He knows Fubar, sure, but that’s about it. He’s a student, he works part-time at that coffee stand, his sister is an instructor at the gym here in town. The only two things that really stood out were him walking around downtown in the middle of a damn downpour back to Shinganshina, and that he takes coffee to our suspect in the mornings.”

“That’s odd, I don’t recall there being a bus that will drive you out to the military base. Not before at least nine.” The cup tapped against the top of the desk in front of Levi with Irwin’s words. “Does he have a car or something?”

Levi snorted. “His sister drives him. Then she drives to the gym.”

“A little much for a college student to afford.”

“Exactly,” He said. He took a drink of the coffee before finishing. “and then the brat went on to try to get me to tell him how our vic died.”

“Curious kid.”

“Sketchy as hell kid.” He muttered back. “He checks out, but there’s something that’s just _off_ about him.”

“Like?”

Levi sighed in agitation. He pressed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “I don’t fucking know. Just something.”

“Drug use?”

“No.”

“Theft?”

“Maybe. Either way, why would a kid stick around a damn crime scene?”

Irwin pulled a chair up to the other side of Levi's desk. “Curiosity?”

“Pretty morbid curiosity. I mean really. Too many crime shows on TV, maybe he watches them religiously. He’s stopping by the station tomorrow at noon for pictures and prints. I’m hoping his sister tags along so we can get hers too. In the pictures we managed to take and the film, she was by him.”

Irwin smiled. “You sound like you’re getting worn out already.”

“This entire case is a nightmare. I don’t see why we were called in for it. They could’ve had the local officers do something.”

“I doubt it, Levi. The bureau is hesitant to even let them near the scenes at this point. We lost a lot of evidence with Grimes’ death. Maybe even something crucial.”

“What, besides missing the giant wall of blood until the end?” Levi snapped. He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. Each time he tried to focus on this damn case it just caused a migraine. There was still _something_ he was missing between the two cases so far. He just couldn’t figure it out.

“Has Hanji given you the updated files yet?”

“Those would be wonderful.” he growled. “No she hasn’t. I haven’t seen her since we got the first set of files. I’ve only talked to her on the phone; she’s the one who told me to be here before the interrogation time. My guess is that she’s explaining Fubar’s rights to him and shit right now.”

Irwin nodded. He rested his elbow on the edge of Levi’s desk. It caused one of the papers to crinkle in the corner, making the shorter frown.

“Get your elbow off my desk. You’re ruining things.”

“Oh, sorry.” he picked his elbow up and smoothed the paper out before putting it back on it. Levi glared.

“So what _have_ you been able to connect between the two cases so far?”

That was the question of the night.

Levi shoved Irwin’s arm out of the way to grab a notepad under the four folders spread out on one half of his desk. Two were for the victims, the other two were the case files for the victims. Their crimes, their job history, family… everything that could be of use.

The notepad had a bunch of lines connecting things and his lazy cursive in the margin for personal notes. He picked up the paper and turned it so the other could see.

“Taking it back to the start of Grimes’ deal? Nothing. Completely different murder style. It’s like our killer was testing out methods. The cut was completely hidden like it wasn’t even there, and the injuries our vic sustained could prove that the body was unconscious when a blunt object was used to make the rest of the marks. You know that thing where your bones and shit can sustain a good amount of damage, but your brain locks that power away? That. That’s why the shoulder breakage didn’t break through and neither did the ribs.”

He pointed at the next bullet point that was written on the notepad. “Second is the method itself. Strung up between two poles would take a good amount of time to get right. It’s not possible in the half hour that they had to do this. Our killer wouldn’t be able to single handedly move a body, place it, do all of this shit to it and then leave with the ground untouched before everyone got there.”

“A second person.” Irwin commented. “Or more.”

“We have that, and the blood which dried way too fast for it to be a half hour deal. Someone let the killer there earlier to set that up. Either that, or our killer is one of the people who has complete access to the training base at any damn time they want. If it had only been a half hour since we got there, then how would that work? Blood would have been running still. It wouldn’t be dry in the slightest.”

There was the sound of a blank page being ripped out of the notepad and a click of a pen. Next came scratching while the blond started creating a new list. “So we’re assuming that there are at least ties to someone there helping, then.”

“Unless you have an explanation for the security tapes going AWOL too.”

Irwin shook his head and continued writing. Levi took his own paper back and ran through the points again.

He tapped his finger against the third one down the list. “The blood that was dried also belonged to Bourgston, so there’s another backing factor. Ground smoothness too. It was like there wasn’t anything wrong with it, right? That nothing had been touched? If I remember right they use rakes to smooth the grounds out every morning, so that morning runners don’t step in indents and hurt themselves. It’s the guard’s job.”

“That puts Fubar as a big suspect.”

Levi nodded. More pen scratches against the paper.

“What about the paint brush?”

Levi shook his head this time with another sigh. “Not sure. That’s still unclear. Getting prints ran on it. The department here is lazy and didn’t get their heads out of their asses long enough to do it earlier. I’ll have the results by the end of the interrogation.”

“Bracelet?”

“Has to be someone who knew Mira,” he concluded. He laced his fingers together and leaned his forehead against his hands. “She’s a teacher, so that’s nothing out of the ordinary. Perhaps the killer broke into their house to take it, or even her husband could have left it somewhere. He was a forgetful man, it seems.”

He took a drink of the coffee before continuing. “Which leads into Bourgston’s scene. Different part of town, completely different killing method. Not strung up, which isn’t a surprise. The body was posed this time on the ground. Nothing ritualistic… just posed.”

Irwin leafed through the papers on the desk for the rough copy of Bourgston’s autopsy report. He cleared his throat and read off, “Autopsy shows a small case of petechial hemorrhaging. Nothing that would be extremely noticeable unless you’re actually _looking_ for it. Cause of death is still unknown.”

Levi groaned. _Of course it was still unknown._

“When I talked to the medical team at the scene they assumed it was a heart attack. The gashes on Bourgston’s back were done when he was awake, or so they guess, and the asphyxiation was due to him screaming during the process. The pain caused him to go into shock which then lead to a heart attack. It wasn’t a nice death, but it’d explain a lot about his case.”

Levi hummed in agreement and wrote the word ‘heart attack’ on his own paper. “Alright. Nothing else has been identified yet. The main thing I need done now is the note.”

“What language was it this time?”

“Swedish, and Ral was supposed to be getting the translation done. This time our killer left it on a piece of paper in pen. Ten bucks says that it's our dead rapist's handwriting." He sighed again. The more he thought about the cases the more he wondered what they were going up against. Who they were going up against. Normal agents never usually dealt with a crime like this. Not unless they were really unfortunate.

Well, lucky for him then, he frowned.

He needed something besides the notes and the blood to work with. He needed _something_ to work with before the next guy on the list became the next victim.

Irwin clicked the end of the pen and sat it back down on the desk. He ran a hand down his face and looked at Levi's paper. Then at the other officer himself.

"Shoe?”

Levi shook his head. “Forensics still hasn’t done that yet either. I swear to god this bureau’s wing for this shit _sucks_. They don’t know how to do their job at all. Give them time to get their damn job done and they just fuck around instead of doing it.”

He didn’t hear the door to the offices open, nor did he hear the humming until it was right by his desk. Another stack of folders crashed in between he and Irwin, spreading and sending everything that was nice and orderly straight to hell.

Just wonderful. He could take a damn guess at who _this_ was.

“Not entirely agent,” Hanji retorted. “They haven’t had enough time to get everything processed. We’re split up between the two cases considering they’re so close together. We can’t just drop everything on Grimes to figure out what’s with Bourgston. It doesn’t work that way!”   

“It better work that way soon.” he snapped back. Hanji ignored him and pulled up a chair. She tapped the folder with a green ‘x’ on the corner before practically forcing the damn thing into his hand.

“For you and Irwin.. Bertholdt Fubar is in the interrogation wing getting his rights read to him. That baby is his file - career background, schooling, home life notes, etcetera. You’ll be using it when you talk to him. I did for a while but, man, that kid is quiet. Like really quiet.”

“Suspicious at all?” He asked. She just shook her head.

“Not really. Then again I’m not an investigator. I just look at what you bring me.” She grinned. 

“Petra’s almost done with the note, and my guys are _nearly_ done with analyzing everything you’ve brought back from the scenes.”

Levi moved his coffee away from the glasses wearing menace and took a drink. After that it was gone, barely making any noise when he set it down, compared to Hanji’s laughter as she waved to someone leaving.

He practically growled. “Is anyone reviewing the footage and pictures we’ve brought back?”

“I’ll do that,” Irwin this time. He smiled and continued after Levi raised a brow. “You talk to Fubar and I’ll look over everything. I believe the only open field agents for that, if not one of us, is a normal officer. I’ve been to each scene. I can take care of it.”

“Don’t forget to write notes for each one,” Levi replied. He rubbed at his eyes. _Fuck_ he was tired and they weren’t even close to leaving for the night yet-

He grabbed the three files: the two crime scenes and Fubar’s. This wouldn’t take too long. He’d get the kid to break quickly. Then he’d be home free from the office.

“Come get me if you figure out anything important,” he sighed, pushing the chair in. _Fifteen minutes tops. Maybe twenty. That’s all._

The last thing he heard before stepping out into the hall that ran straight through to the interrogation room, was the damn woman’s shriek of, “Don’t make him cry too much!”

 

 

 

**.**

**.o0o.**

**.**

 

 

 

A few minutes later he was checking the equipment for the room, making sure that everything was running smoothly. Petra came in with the note results - which he told himself to read _after_ the damn interrogation - and stayed to keep an eye on everything. The cameras were running good, audio was working. She just needed to keep an eye on it and make sure nothing fucked up and missed something. From this side of the mirror, he could see their guy; he was sweating and looking around the room. Tall and lanky, he looked nervous. Extremely nervous. With a nod to Petra and a thumbs up in response, he left the room to go in through the door next to it.

He stepped into the room wordlessly. His footsteps sounded way too loud in this place, and it didn’t help that Fubar already knew his rights. That gave the kid time to think of things to say and cover shit up with if need be.

That didn’t really matter, it seemed. The kid was still sweating his ass off, looking fidgety already.

Levi slapped the files down on his side of the table and sat across from the trainee. He crossed his legs, glaring at the other. “Bertholdt Fubar. Age 20. Military trainee, almost done with it too, it seems.”

The kid stayed quiet. His shifting died down and the seat stopped creaking. “I already told the other officer. I didn’t do _anything_ -”

“You know how many times I hear that when I walk into this room?” Levi interrupted. He leaned onto the table, crossing his arms. “Let’s talk about how much shit you’re in right now. Deep shit.”

Bertholdt sighed. His shoulders hunched forwards and he stared off at the wall. _Anxious_ , Levi noted. _He was completely anxious._

“Alright. First thing's first,” Levi opened the file on top of the stack. “How long have you been here today? It’s a pretty shit place, you’re probably tired of it.”

Bertholdt moved his eyes from the wall to look at the agent before frowning. “Since this morning. I got to the base late and was greeted with the local police.”

“Did you have any time to go _into_ the base?”

The kid sighed. “Barely. I put my stuff away into the lockers and then went outside.”

“That’s it?”

“Trainee’s don’t use the main entrance if they leave. There’s a back gate by the barracks and that’s where I came in at. You can check my card time too.”

Levi perked up at that. “Card time,” he echoed.

“Yeah. Each time you go through any of the gates it records your name, card number, and the time you come in.”

_Well that was new information._

“How often do you leave the base in the morning? I assumed you guys were supposed to stay in the damn place. It’s like a prison, isn’t it?”

“No. Not entirely.” Bertholdt shifted again. He shrugged. “We’re allowed to leave whenever, just not for extended periods of time.”

“But you’d still have enough time to bring a body in.”

He jumped. “What?”

_There we go_. Levi tilted his chin higher. He stood up, spreading his hands on the table. “Well think about it. You have access out of the grounds, our victim was found early. You showed up late.”

“That’s not-”

“Do you have access to the security tapes?”

Bertholdt paused. “Yeah, but-”

“What about the supply shed?”

“Yes-”

“How long do you have access to everything?”

“All day-”

Levi pushed himself out of the seat to stand. He folded his hands behind his back, pacing slowly around the table. Fubar seemed to be closer to breaking. That’s what he wanted.

“You’re digging yourself into a deeper hole.”

“Can I even _say_ anything?” Bertholdt snapped. He seemed startled by his outburst when Levi looked at him.

_Closer…_

“Why? Are you telling me that there was someone else there when you arrived? The body obviously wasn’t. Either that or you’re covering for someone, because there’s no chance in hell that you strolled to your damn post with a fucking body strung up in the middle of the place.” He slammed his hands back on the table, hissing. “So tell me, Fubar. Tell me what the hell you saw before we sign you up as an accomplice to the murder. Maybe even the killer depending on my mood.”

He watched their suspect press his lips into a thin line. The door opened and Irwin stepped into the room. The sweating mess didn’t seem to notice, however. He was too damn interested in staring at the table.

“The table won’t do anything to help you.” Levi barked.

Finally he got a slump of the shoulders and a quiet sigh. “I didn’t see anything. I went out to go grab some food. A couple of the guys wanted fast food, and the mess hall doesn’t open until eight. I got my guard partner’s keys and was sent off to get the food while he covered for me. I come back  through the rear gate and head up to the barracks to deliver it to everyone.

“By the time I start heading towards the front to take my post, there’s cop cars. The local police showed up, asked for my name, and grabbed me. Someone told them I was late and hadn’t reported yet. I don’t know why, but it wasn’t me.”

Irwin crossed the room at that point. He took the seat across from Bertholdt, smiling. It was one of those ass-reaming smiles; it plainly said that their suspect was going to be in trouble. He may not have been there for the full interrogation, but he knew something that’d get them the answers they wanted.

Fubar, in other words, was fucked. Royally fucked.

"Bertholdt, correct?” He started. He kept the formal and pristine officer front up. Levi leaned against the wall behind him, waiting. “I hope you’ll forgive me ahead of time. My interrogation skills aren’t up to par. It’s been a while.”

The kid just nodded. He stopped fidgeting. Must’ve been the blond’s smile and lack of aggression.

Irwin opened the file he brought in. He took out a list of what looked like names. Some of them were highlighted, and he turned it around to show their suspect. His eyes widened upon looking at them.

“What is-”

“It’s a list of all the morning watches and night watches. The highlighted ones are all people you have your watches with, along with those who can verify that you left the grounds. Your card checked out. However, there’s a small detail that’s missing.”

Levi watched the kid sift through the paper, muttering out the names to himself. One of them near the middle of the page made him stop, though. Levi frowned. What was it?

“Why is Annie’s name a different color?”

_...Oh?_

Irwin shifted forward to point to another piece of paper he put out. “She’s the only one we couldn’t find. She left around the same time as you did. Different exit, though. Her card doesn’t show her ever returning.”

He looked up at both of the agents at that. He looked pale.

Levi was the one to question him this time. He stayed against the brick wall, tilting his head up. Just enough to look down at the blanched face seated away from him. “So about just ‘putting your shit in your locker then heading outside’. Clear up your facts. Too many different things. Who’s car did you take to get food, when did you get back, etcetera.”

Bertholdt scratched at a spot on the table. At least the weight of the situation seemed to finally hit him. “Do you know where she is?”

“If you tell us everything with your facts straight then I’ll tell you. Information exchange. We’ll also get you out of here.” Irwin said. He shut the file and fixed his attention on the pile of sweat in front of them.

_Disgusting…_

The kid took a deep breath. “We had the night off. We all did. A couple of guys from my squad - Reiner, Thomas, Mina, Annie, Millius - we just sat around. Most of us slept. We usually don’t get off days, so when we do it’s a change in pace. We just play cards. That’s really the only thing we can do there. There’s not much.

“So we were playing poker. Reiner threw his keys into the mix. I threw in a trip to get food before the mess hall opened. I lost, borrowed Reiner’s car, and went out the back way to get everything. There’s a 24 hour diner right when you get into town, so I went there. There’s a back road that you can take by the barracks’ gate, along with a parking lot.

“I came back and was running late. They messed up a few orders so I had to sit for a while. I asked Reiner to take part of my shift this morning since I was on duty with him, and got back. I dropped the food off with everyone, dropped my bag off in my room, then headed out to do my job.

“There’s a path that goes from the barracks straight to the guard stations. I was walking along that when I noticed the police cars. That’s nothing unusual; usually officer Brzenska stops by to check in with our instructor once a week and to see if anyone’s dropped, injured… things like that. So I kept on walking. I didn’t know that everyone had been ushered into the mess hall when the body was found. Walking around resulted in them throwing handcuffs on me and shoving me into the car and bringing me here without a second doubt.”

Levi payed attention to everything that was said, running it back through his mind. Nothing seemed out of place. This time, it seemed like a solid script. He’d have to check which officer brought him in and talk to them, along with finding out where this Annie chick went. Just what they needed; another damn brat running around fucking things up.

Irwin looked over his shoulder. It was a silent question of ‘anything to add?’. Levi shook his head. No, he had enough to think about and figure out at this point. He had the note to compare to the last one and updated autopsy files to pour over. It’d be a late night, and he really didn’t want to spend longer than necessary in this shitty room with a perspiring kid who couldn’t get his facts straight.

_No… not yet. There was something he was forgetting._

“What about a kid named Eren Jaeger?” Levi threw out. Bertholdt jumped at that.

“Eren?”

“Did I stutter?”

“N-no. He’s a friend… did he do something wrong?”

Levi frowned. What was with _everyone_ asking that question?

He just continued. “He said he brings you coffee in the morning and you bring him lunch. Is that true?”

“Only on certain days.”

“Was today one of those days?”

The kid had to think for a second. “Yeah, it was. Why?”

“Don’t worry about it.” He retorted. Well, at least that part of the story checked out too then. Sketchy as hell kid was starting to become less sketchy. Barely.

“Anything else, agent?” the folder flipped open again on the table as Irwin started putting the list of names in it.

“I’m finished.” this hadn’t helped them at all. Not really. They had another person to hunt down, at least.

The other nodded and stood up from the table. “Then you’re free to go. I’ll have one of our officers drive you back to the base. However, I do expect your full cooperation for the rest of this investigation. You will be placed under watch for a while. Just precautions,” Irwin smiled. “Thank you Mr. Fubar.”

Bertholdt seemed completely relieved and  rushed to the door. When he opened it Petra was behind it holding keys. She’d be the one to take him home. She waved at the two still in the room before the door completely shut, leaving Levi with Irwin.

“I hope you didn’t completely destroy him,” Irwin chuckled. He gathered up the files in one hand and gave them to Levi.

“He was easier to get shit out of then the Jaeger kid, that’s for sure. At least he didn’t give me a fucking migraine.”

Irwin’s chuckle turned into a full laugh. He flipped the switch outside to turn the lights off when they left. He tapped the top two files he gave to Levi with this finger. “Updated reports along with your note translation. I didn’t get too far into reviewing the pictures we took, but I started making a map of everything on the bulletin board between our desks. For now head home. The offices are locked, and it’s been a long day.”

The glare he gave Irwin earned him a sigh in return.

“You have to be here early anyways before Eren comes by. That means go home, read these if you must, but sleep.”

He opened his mouth to protest but Irwin stared at him. “Levi.”

It was a battle he knew he’d lose if he tried. Might as well give this one up. Fine.

He tucked the files under his arm with an irritated sigh, and nodded a goodbye to the other. He fished for his keys out of his pocket, heading out the main doors and towards the parking lot. He had a lot to review before tomorrow.

 

 

 

**.**

**.o0o.**

**.**

  _Downtown Trost_

_F.B.I. Main Building_

_11:57, October 2013_

_Special Agent Levi_

_..._

_  
_

He was late. He was running so damn _late._

 

Staying up was a bad idea. He really should’ve fucking realized that before pouring over the autopsy reports and crime scene notes. Nothing new stood out. There wasn’t anything really leading _anywhere_ , which pissed him off to no extent. There had to be something they were missing. An analysis was still being run on the shoe and the contacts. He wouldn’t be able to use that information until after dealing with the damn kid today.

Levi sighed. He’d go over the pictures and shit today. Maybe Irwin already finished with that and added everything up to the map. There would colored string all over the place, but it’d give them a general idea of what to expect from the next murder. Vantage points always were connected in one way or another; the viewpoint of the body, where it was placed in relation to the area surrounding it. It was like a puzzle, really, when the murders got this precise. It was like their killer was trying to throw them off and bring them in at the same time.

He walked through the front door into the building’s main lobby right as the clock chimed noon. Another sigh. Just _perfect_ , he wouldn’t have any time to do anything before the kid got there. He was about to head down the hall to the offices when he nearly ran into Irwin.

“You’re late.” He commented. Levi glared up at him and sneered.

“Long night.”

“I told you to get sleep.”

“You’re not in charge of me.” He snapped back. He watched the shoulders in front of him slump with a sigh.

“I’ll ignore that comment. I called Eren this morning a few hours ago when I got here. He’s waiting in the lobby now. Petra is there too; she’ll be taking his sister for the same thing.”

“Wait. His _sister_ came too?”

“Of course.” Irwin smiled. “I asked him to bring her. He was more than happy to.”

_Of course he was_ , Levi frowned. Well, on a somewhat brightside, that meant less work for him.

“How long has he been here?”

The other officer looked at the clock on the wall. “About half an hour now. Not too long. We wanted to leave him with you; everyone else is working on finding more information on our cases. Bossard did take both of their pictures, though. You only have to work on his fingerprints.”

That made sense. Well, at least they weren’t sitting around on their asses doing absolutely nothing. He gave a silent goodbye to the other before walking around him and through the first door on the left. The Records room was kept right behind the main desk in the lobby, and that’s where he needed to make the one stop. He had to dig through piles of reports and papers - _no doubt thanks to those shitty glasses_ , he thought - to find what he was looking for. He tore off two pages of the small pad. There was room for ten sets of prints, same with a spot to write the person’s name. He dug around for ink and two new folders. They’d need those too.

As soon as he stepped back into the lobby and walked to the visitors section, he saw the kid talking to Ral. He laughed at something, and the girl beside him just shook her head. Sister, huh? They didn’t even look related.

It was insane how quick Eren’s attention went from Petra to Levi when he walked up. He got a wider grin and a sheepish wave. Levi just scoffed.

“Here,” he muttered. He handed Petra one of the papers and folders, along with one of the ink pads.

“Thanks,” she smiled. “I completely forgot about these. Anyways, Mikasa? If you would come with me please?”

‘Mikasa’ stood up and grabbed Eren’s shoulder. She didn’t say anything, just walked past them both and followed Petra down the hall towards her office.

Eren was pulling at the armrest of the chair, tugging on a string. Levi nearly kicked him. “Oi, leave the damn chair alone and come on. I want to get this over and done with.”

He watched the kid jump up, smoothing down the cloth on the chair’s arm. “Sorry. Lead the way.”

He really didn’t want to be dealing with this again today. He had to reach out and pull on the kid’s arm - physically _pull_ \- to get him to walk the way he wanted and to stop apologizing.

_So damn annoying._

Levi was thankful that the offices were on the main floor, or at least his was. That meant he only had to put up with Eren’s shit for an hour tops. Then he’d be free to focus on what was really important.

There were only a handful of actual desks in this room. Hanji, Irwin’s, his own, and Pixis’, whenever he showed up. Taking up the entire center of the room was a bulletin board that you could flip over on it’s stand for a whiteboard. The whiteboard had pictures taped to it; ones of the squads together in training and just around the place. A few had family pictures, too; Erd had him and his sister and mother… Petra had one with her father… Auruo had one with his entire family. The table in front of the actual board served as where they ate lunch most of the time too. It was the same table that Levi made Eren sit at.

He had to get up and grab a pen off of his desk, then write out Eren’s name on the top of the folder, neatly. He also had to get up to grab the small bottle of rubbing alcohol from the room’s first aid kit and a paper towel.

“You spelled my name right.”

Levi looked up at him quickly, then back down to write Eren’s name on the paper for his prints. Of course he got it right. He had to go through the kid’s school papers and make sure he wasn’t a damn liar. His name had been practically burned into his mind.

He just grunted in return and took the cap off of the rubbing alcohol. He folded the paper towel up and covered the bottle’s neck with it, tipping it. When he could feel the liquid sink through and onto his own fingers, he tilted the bottle back up and capped it.

He grabbed Eren’s right hand and stretched it towards where he could reach, cleaning off each finger. Any dirt would be removed, along with anything that would fuck up taking the print. He set the towel off to the side and flipped the ink pad open when he was done. He started with Eren’s pinky, rolling it in the black before doing the same on the paper. The print was neat, and Levi felt himself slowly start to relax.

“How come there aren’t any pictures of you up there?”

Or he _had_ started to relax.

“Do you have to ask pointless questions?”

Eren sighed. “It seemed too quiet.”

“The quiet is nice.” he retorted. He rolled Eren’s thumb last and pressed it against the paper. One hand done. “Next hand.”

Eren switched them out, putting his left in the same spot. Levi did the same thing again with the rubbing alcohol.

“They’re from before I joined.” Levi answered. “I don’t see the point in putting anything up there. That’s what my desk is for.”

“When did you join?”

“A few years ago.”

Eren fell quiet after that. Just long enough for Levi to finish with his pointer finger and move onto his thumb.

“Why did you join?”

_Fuck_ , Levi frowned. He’d slipped, covering the entire side of Eren’s thumb in the ink. That was _not_ a question he was expecting. Or one he wanted to answer.

“Personal reasons.” he growled. He had to reclean Eren’s thumb and try again. He didn’t fuck up this time, except the ink didn’t stick in a spot, and there was a faint impression of one side of his thumb.

_It’ll work_ , he concluded. He waited until the prints were dry before sticking them in the folder, pushing himself roughly away from the table. He dropped the folder onto Irwin’s desk, and crossed the room to the sink.

“Come wash your hands and get the ink off. If you touch anything or get it on anything-”

“You’ll kick my ass.” Eren finished for him. “Yeah, I know.”

As soon as Eren was done, Levi shoved the kid’s shoulder, walking him out of the offices and back towards the lobby. Petra wasn’t out there, but his sister was. She was sitting in the same chair, staring up at the clock. When her brother stepped into the room her head turned, and she stood up. Her hand tugged on the end of her scarf, then pulled the top part of it above her mouth.

Eren grinned at that.

He turned around to face Levi, scratching the side of his cheek.

“Sorry for all the trouble.” he started. “And sorry for being difficult during this entire thing.”

“Whatever. Just don’t do it again.”

Eren shook his head. “Actually, I was wondering if I’d be able to talk to you again? There’s been a couple of break-ins around the apartments where I live, and I was wondering if there was anything you could do. I don’t know what’s been stolen, but you never know. The person doing it could be connected to what you guys are doing, right?”

_What’s he playing at?_ Levi frowned. “You want me to come investigate a minor robbery?”

Eren’s eyes hardened. “I’m afraid for my sister and myself. Please? One last thing?”

Levi rolled his eyes. If it meant that he’d leave him alone then he could deal with another hour or so with the kid. “Fine.”

“Really?” The kid blinked. He seemed surprised. The surprise turned back into a smile and he laughed. “That’s great! I’m pretty swarmed with classes until friday. Would that work? If you can’t make it, you can always send another officer.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” He returned.

“Great. Next time you stop by the store and want coffee it’s on me. It’s the least I can do.” Eren finished. He nodded, said a goodbye, then turned with his sister and walked out of the place. From the door, Levi could see his sister pulling out the keys for her car.

_Finally._

Finally they were gone and he could focus on what needed to get done. He had the rest of the day to figure out as much as he could to get a clue for their next victim before it was too late. The first stop for him was going to be Hanji’s lab then. The shoe analysis should be done by now.

Sure enough, halfway there he got a text.

_Head down to the lab when you’re done. We’ve found something._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


	6. Progress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AN: Bringing you this after being buried under college applications from the Kalos region where I am still not a champion yet, sadly! Also updates for this will be changed to once a month for now unless I can squeeze in two chapters. Expect them around the end of the month! 
> 
> Also thank you for everyone who's commented and stuff on this so far I'M REALLY GOING TO TRY AND GET OFF MY ASS AND REPLY FROM NOW ON BUT I READ EVERY SINGLE ONE AND JUST. HUGS FOR YOU ALLLLLL
> 
> Tumblr url is also changed for the holiday, therefore I am now spook-tape and the tag I'm still tracking for this and will be adding to is: fic:hide and seek

* * *

 

 

**.**

**.o0o.**

**.**

 

_Downtown Trost_

_F.B.I. Main Building_

_12:20, October 2013_

_Special Agent Levi_

_…_

  


“There you are.” Hanji was digging around in the pile of papers on the lab’s desk. “I was wondering if you died out there.”

Levi snorted, sitting down on the stool left open for him. The DNA specialist’s laptop was sitting on top of a mass of cords and wires with a projector next to it. The continuation of the piles of folders and papers were spread out in front of everyone else, and the bulletin board from the office was brought in too. Pictures of the victims were pinned to it, along with notecards and highlighted locations on a local map.

Good, it seemed like everyone was doing their job.

He looked around the table while Hanji put a flash drive into her computer and unscrewed the cap to the projector. Gunter was there, same with Luke Cis, Erd, Auruo, Petra and Irwin. Two from forensics, two from medical, and four - counting himself - officers on the case. It was a decent match.

“Now that you’re here,” she continued, clicking on the flash drive’s symbol on her desktop. It opened to a bunch of folders, and she clicked on the powerpoint hidden in the corner. “We can start. It’s just a quick run through; we didn’t find much, actually.”

The first slide opened up to the familiar list of everything they had found and the addresses of the locations. There was a spider web style map on the side of the screen, showing the blood relations and evidence they had found. Levi could barely make sense of it. Hanji made it confusing as fuck.

“Right, so to begin with,” she cleared her throat. “We have Gunter and myself from forensics, Erd and Luke with the medical team, and you four on this case. Evenly split, we’ve gotten a lot of stuff figured out.”

“Figured out.” Levi echoed sarcastically.

Hanji sighed and hit the spacebar on her laptop. It made the slide go to the next one, zooming in on one section of it. He recognized the two notes automatically.

“Well, just bits and pieces, but we have more than enough, and that’s enough to know what’s happening.”

“What, besides murders?” Auruo decided to chip in while the screen zoomed in on another section of the slide. The french was easy to translate, but the other note was up there now. That one had an arrow pointing to the opposite side of the screen. Levi heard the officer grunt when Petra elbowed him.

“Of course!” Hanji wasn’t fazed. “Let’s see… here we go. Note number two, Mister Bossard, was found with our second victim along with a pair of contacts and shoes. All three have value here, along with site lines and stuff, but that comes later.”

She took a laser pointer off one of the piles on her desk, using it to underline the second note as she read it off. “Nio. kom, hitta mig.” she paused. “Miss Ral managed to translate it for us; it means ‘nine. Come find me.’ or so we believe.”

 _So our killer **is**  treating this as a game_, Levi frowned. His fingers started tapping against the top of the table. Another click, and the slide switched to the next one. There were the pictures of both victims, along with two other men.

“So here we are now; two victims and two potentials.” Hanji continued. The laser pointer was back, pointing at the balding man.

He looked like he was in his late forties, a little on the heavy side with a blonde mustache and matching hair on the sides, right behind his ears. He had near grey eyes, and a frown on his face. Anyone who knew the guy would know that he was successful; he was a wine connoisseur in Stohess, known for acting more like a noble than anything else. Farther outside of Stohess, heading more towards the coast, there was a winery -  extremely successful - and this man owned it.

“Peter Balto?” Irwin’s turn to chip in. There was a shuffle of papers. “But he rarely leaves Stohess.”

“Exactly. But Balto and Verman  _both_  visit the same place on a regular basis. Any guesses as to where? No? Well you’re in luck becauuseee,” a picture of the front of the Garrison Pub showed up on the screen in between Balto and the other’s face. “I have it right here. The Garrison is a familiar place for everyone, after all.”

“How do you know this? What if it’s just a coincidence they both happened to go there for one night?”

“Hannes told us.” the answer was completely simple, shoving Auruo’s question back in his face. “He was pretty cooperative. Having a crime scene behind your bar isn’t exactly good for business, right?

“Anyways, Kitts Verman is the second potential. Why though is the question. It’s best to just guess with this one. We got his DNA off the shoes, but also Balto’s, so you can see where the confusion is. Maybe one of them spit on the ground or something and then stepped in it.”

“How did you get both of their DNA from it?” Petra’s turn to chime in. She was scribbling down notes into the same notepad she had earlier. “Prints? Hair?”

“Hair. One of Balto’s was stuck in the fabric inside of it, and Verman’s was on the bottom. So it’s an either or scenario still.”

“It’s still a nightmare.” Levi sighed. At least they were finally making progress, though. He couldn’t even deny that. This was better than nothing. “So besides meeting at the Garrison often, do we have anything else on these guys?”

Hanji shook her head and sighed herself. “Nope. Actually, your job for today is to find them. Sorry for the late notice, but I’m pretty sure you guys are our best bet at actually  _locating_  them. No one knows where they are. They were last seen leaving the Garrison. Verman  got on the bus back to Shinganshina, I believe, and Balto took a cab back to Stohess.”

There were collective sighs from around the table. Levi pinched the bridge of his nose and leaned back more on the stool. He wasn’t expecting there to be any good news today anyways. Not when it came to this case. But now they had two potential victims… or suspects. Levi realized that then; these two could very well be the killer. This could be a slip, but that seemed too off. The murderer was pretty haphazard to begin with, using different methods, but slipping up this early?

“They’ve been cleared for being suspects?” Auruo asked. He was watching Hanji flip through more slides, looking for a certain one.

“No, they haven’t.” she replied, finally stopping on one. It was a picture of the first crime scene, one that was cropped from the video footage. It was sort of blurry around the edges, but Levi could clearly see none other than the brat from earlier. He was near center focus with Mikasa right next to him.

_Why this slide?_

“They haven’t been cleared, but it wouldn’t make any sense for them to be making a slip this early, right? I mean, the notes are counting backwards from ten. What happens when it hits zero? One? There’s two new potentials as victims, and I’m pretty sure that’s exactly what they are. Our killer has two new people set in his sights, and these guys are them.”

 _It makes sense_ , Levi frowned, staring at the slide up on the screen. Staring right at Eren.  _One is successful. Really, they both are. Perfect for this..._

But why was the slide of the kid up there? Why was this damn brat so involved in this? Levi couldn't escape him. It was official that he couldn't, because if it wasn't having to stare at him on the screen, it was having to see him again in two days to check out the apartment. There better be something extremely wrong about the place, and the story about break-ins better be true too. If not, then the kid was getting his ass kicked for fucking around in the middle of a murder case-

Someone shook his arm. He saw Erd's hand move away from his sleeve. "Are you done zoning out?"

_Shit._

"Sorry, what?"

"Irwin asked if you would tell us about this kid. Most of the people here don’t have a clue about him."

“Eren Jaeger.” Levi cleared his throat, waving his hand in front of his face dismissively while he talked. "He was there for his friend, stuck around for whatever damn reason he had, but left when Petra started screaming and freaking everyone out. Managed to find him later, asked him a few questions, brought him in earlier today to get his prints and his picture. He’s too damn curious for his own good, and wants someone to check out his apartment. He’s been getting break-ins around his place, which might actually be useful to us now.”

“Where does he live?”

“Shinganshina.”

“Same place that Verman went back to.” Hanji grinned. “That’s perfect! Levi, you can go check it out and see if you can find anything on our guy!"

_No._

"Can't you send someone else? What about reviewing the crime scenes?"

Irwin stood up and pushed his chair in. "I'll have Zakarius do that with me today. You don't have to worry about that."

Levi watched him walk up towards Hanji, towering over her. He didn't even bother with the laser pointer, and pointed to the small mop of blonde hair that was by Eren's side in the picture.

"We have another person that may help us on this case. Whoever this is left the scene too, and we have a feeling it may be Annie Leonhardt. She's another trainee at the base who went missing around the same time as the murder. No one knows where she is, so we have a strong possibility that this could be her."

Levi knew where this was leading to already. No one had to say a damn thing for that to be clear. If that was Annie, then Eren would know. Taking food to Bertholdt meant knowing who people were around the base, especially fellow trainees. And by the way Bertholdt acted when Irwin pulled out her name, Fubar was close to her.

_Which means Eren might be too._

"We could really use this, Levi." Hanji was begging now, the grin fading into a smile. "You've had the most interaction with him, so he'll trust you more than us. Just think! This can really help us!"

He wanted to leave and refuse. But Hanji was right, as much as he didn't want to listen to the shitty glasses and her endless tirades - this could be what they need.

"Fine. I'll call him and I'll meet him somewhere. If nothing checks out to what we need, I won't bother to look at his apartment."

"Levi-"

"Hanji, really. If there was a murderer like this, do you really expect them to do that? To just break into places that have no damn worth to anything?"

She just laughed and flipped through the last slides that weren't anything important. "You can't say. You don't know who the murderer is, so all possibilities must be accounted for."

"Well I think this meeting should be over." Auruo grunted, kicking his feet off the table to push himself away. "I'll tag along with Irwin to the scenes to see what we can find."

"Great." The glasses clad woman was back to grinning, now shoving papers into folders, and folders into folders.

Levi was the first one to actually leave the room. Fine, if he had to do this, then he'd call the kid and see when he could meet. The sooner he got this over with, the better. He could focus on finishing this case then, and  _without_  any interference.

The walk back to his desk was too fast for his liking, but Eren's number was on a sticky note right under the phone on the corner of his desk when he got there. The handwriting wasn't his, and Irwin's instead. Bertholdt's file along with the one that got started on Mikasa and Eren were sitting in the center of the dark wood. Levi sighed and sat down in his chair. He punched the number into his phone, listened to it ring twice before a hesitant voice answered.

"Hello?"

"This is Special Agent Levi with the F.B.I. Is this Eren Jaeger?"

 

 

 

 

**.**

**.o0o.**

**.**

It was about two hours later that he was back at the small coffee shop in the center of the store. Lawson’s was usually busy in the middle of the day, but - looking around at the amount of people who passed the section of the store where the caffeine supplier was kept - there wasn’t much business. Levi wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not the longer he waited for the damn brat to show up.

“Sorry, sorry.”

The chair across from the table he had grabbed was pulled out, the legs of it scraping against the floor. It made Levi frown, and his hands curled into fists on the table’s top. Eren dropped the bags he’d been carrying down next to him, giving a sheepish, nervous smile as he pulled himself closer to the table.

“My sister had me pick some things up since I was meeting you here.” He nodded down towards the bags, sighing. “So what did you need?”

Levi flipped the folder he had brought to the first page. It was the picture of Eren, with the blonde mop of hair circled in red. He flipped it around so it was right side up to the brunette and slid it across the table.

Levi tapped his finger on the edge of the circle. “I need you to remember anything you can about the scene you were at, and anyone who was around you." He looked up to see Eren staring down at the picture, concentrating.

 _Good_ , Levi breathed in relief.  _They might make progress today._

But that thought was cut short when Eren shook his head. "Is it supposed to be someone familiar?"

"We were hoping it would be Annie Leonhardt."

"Annie?" Eren echoed. It took a second for the name to click apparently, because after it finally registered, the green eyes went wide.

"So now she's involved?"

Levi's eyes narrowed. "Is this her?"

"No! She wasn't there; I didn't see her that day.” a pause, and then quieter, “why is she part of this now?"

Levi took the picture back and shook his head. "Can't exactly say  _why_ , kid. You said it's not her, then that's that. Why she's involved is essentially classified, and I'm not risking my ass to tell you the reason."

Eren's eyes narrowed and he looked upset. "But she's my friend!"

"And you're working your way up the potential suspects list. You don't have any room to talk." He sneered back. Eren opened his mouth, but closed it, slumping back down into his chair in defeat.

“Can’t you tell me anything?”

“No.”

“But what if I can help?”

“If that’s not Annie and you don’t know who it is, then you’re out of luck.”

“Then tell me about the guy in the folder.”

Levi looked down. The picture of Kitts Verman he had stuck in there just incase they went to Shinganshina today fell out and onto the table. It slid until it stopped directly in between his hand and Eren’s.

Pieces seemed like they fell into place when the kid picked it up and stared at it. He turned it a little, looked back up at Levi, then back at the picture.

 _Asking is worth a shot,_  Levi put the other picture back into the folder and took the one Eren was holding out of his hands. “Do you recognize him?”

“I don’t remember his name, but he lives around us. He’s in charge of some branch at the military base from what I heard from Bertholdt. I’ve seen him around a couple of times too.”

“Kitts Verman.” Levi felt his shoulders relax. They were getting places now. “Have you ever talked to him?”

“Once or twice. I’ve heard him talk a lot. He’s not entirely the nicest guy. I haven’t actually had to talk to him for a long time, though. Just to get in and out of the gates at the military base to visit Bertholdt.”

“And Annie?”

Pen. He needed a pen and a description of her. Eren seemed to pick up on Levi’s searching in his jacket pockets, because he was smiling again and pushing his chair out. The brunette stood, and those too bright green eyes looked over at the front counter where Marco was waiting for the next customer.

“If she’s there.” he answered. “She likes to keep to herself. Think of whatever questions you have now and I’ll answer them, okay? I’m gonna grab something to drink.”

Levi just nodded dismissively. Eren moved up and away from the table.

So what now? He wasn’t entirely sure  _what_  to do. This kid was officially involved, that’s for sure, but just with how he knew everyone in question. The blonde kid in the picture might still be someone he knew, but could be protecting. That was an option too. But the more Levi put things together, the more he was confused as to how he was supposed to solve this case. All of the agents assigned to this case and the local officers needed to help find Balto and Verman, and they all knew that. That was their primary job right now.

_Which means a fieldtrip to Shinganshina is in order._

That’s what would have to happen. Levi would have to actually go to this kid’s apartment if not to do anything but snoop around. His house, the surrounding areas, and find out where Verman’s was. When he got there, he’d call Irwin and have him head over to help. They should be able to find something then about where their potentials went…

A cup of coffee was stuck in front of him along with a pen and one of the company notepads. The name ‘Roast’ was shoved in the corner of it, and the pen click seemed all too loud. Levi scribbled the date at the top of it, though, along with Annie’s name.

“About five feet tall, roman nose, blonde hair that’s usually tied up, blue eyes. Most of the time she looks like she’s mad, and she doesn’t talk unless she has to. Even then she sometimes doesn’t.”

Levi’s pen flew trying to keep up with Eren’s description. “You’ve done this before?”

Green eyes flashed. “Crime shows.”

“Figures.” he sat the pen down, looking at the list. “Does she have a car?”

“Not sure.”

‘Car’ with a question mark after it was written down in the corner. He put Auruo’s name there too. He could go and check.

“People she’s usually seen around?”

“Bertholdt and Reiner. No one else; they’re the only people she talks to. She grew up with them.”

Their names went down on the paper too. “And your friends that work here?” his pen made a circle in the air, motioning to Marco and whoever else. “Do they know her?”

“Not really. Everyone just really knows Reiner and Bertholdt, since they’re the ones that come here usually.”

 _One more to talk to_. Levi underlined Reiner’s name.

“I’m not about her home address, but I know she stays at the base.” Eren continued. He played with the end of his sleeve, pulling at the threads. “You should be able to find out more about her if you look there.”

“And what about Kitts?”

Eren shook his head. “Like I said, I’m not sure about him. He lives around me, and you’re more than welcome to check the apartments and see if his name is registered to any of them. It could be, but who knows. He takes the later bus back to Shinganshina most of the time during the week, I can tell you that.”

_That matches up with what Hanji said. Or at least for this time._

“Do you know why?”

Another head shake. Whatever, everything Levi got would have to work for now. But the apartment directory would be helpful, too. He was stuck with making a choice now: going back to the station and immediately looking for them, or going with Eren back to his apartment. He assumed that was an option in this case, at least it was seeming like it.

 _Maybe there’s something in Eren’s apartment that would help with this too_. Maybe a hint as to who the blonde person is. Levi clicked the pen one last time before setting it in the middle of the table. Well, he was supposed to by friday, wasn’t he?

“Eren.”

Green eyes snapped up to look at him. Levi couldn’t tell what the kid was thinking. Unsettling.

“How are you getting home?”

A blink. Eren looked around like he was looking for someone, but didn’t find them. It was a quick motion, one that the agent would have missed if he wasn’t paying attention.

“Bus.” was the short answer he got in return. “My sister doesn’t get off of work until late tonight.”

_Perfect._

“I can give you a ride back to your apartment. It’ll be easier than the bus, especially since you have food with you.”

The kid looked next to him, remembering that he actually bought shit before this meeting. There wasn’t exactly a reason to turn the offer down, and that’s exactly what was going through Eren’s mind by the look on his face.

“I’ll check the apartment out while I’m there too. Saves me another trip a few days later. Does that work?”

It better work. Eren took a few seconds longer before talking. “Are you sure? You won’t get in trouble, will you?”

“The cruiser’s mine. I don’t even pay for the gas in it, I think a trip to Shinganshina will be fine.”

A few more moments of complete silence while Eren thought. Levi frowned in annoyance. It was a simple question, just a yes or no. In the time it took Eren to think, he was able to finish his damn coffee.

“Alright.” Eren finally replied. The grin was back on his face. “The apartment is a bit of a mess, though. I hope that’s not an issue.”

Oh good. With his luck, the brat would end up being a packrat. Levi pushed himself out of the chair, throwing his empty coffee cup away. He shoved the folder back inside his jacket and zipped it up. Two bags were held out to him in a silent question for help, and he - sadly - took them both in one hand.

Whatever got them there and towards the answers  faster.


End file.
